Question:
Can a negative number be considered a rational number?
§♥Miss Independent♥§
2009-09-07 15:21:01 UTC
for example, can -5 be considered a rational number?
Eight answers:
HotRodder_Sam57
2009-09-07 15:30:43 UTC
A rational number is any number that can be written as a fraction.



-5 is a rational number because you can write it -(5 over 1)



An irrational number is a non-repeating, non-terminating (doesn't end) decimal, like pi.



A repeating decimal can always be written over 9, like .4 repeating can be 4/9, and .423 repeating can be 423/999
?
2016-10-07 10:39:07 UTC
Are Negative Numbers Rational
?
2016-03-27 02:37:54 UTC
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Here is the basic outline of number groups: Natural Numbers - Positive whole numbers. 1,2,3,4,... Whole Numbers - The natural numbers and 0. 0,1,2,3,... Integers - Whole numbers and their negatives. -3,-2,-1,0,1,2,... Rational Numbers - Numbers that can be written in the form p/q, where both p and q are integers. 1/2,2/3,56/91,... In the above, all natural numbers are whole numbers, all whole numbers are integers, and all integers are rational numbers. Irrational Numbers - Numbers that can not be expressed in the form p/q, where both p and q are integers. This is typically the most challenging concept for students to understand. Some examples are 'pi' and 'e', as well as the square roots of numbers that are not perfect squares. sqrt(2),'pi'/2,e^'pi',... (Note in the above that although 'pi'/2 is written as a ratio of two numbers, it is not rational because 'pi' is not an integer.) Real Numbers - The combination of rational and irrational numbers. 0.3345,sqrt(e),17,... Imaginary Numbers - Don't be fooled by the name: imaginary numbers are just as 'real' as real numbers. Consider sqrt(4). You know this is 2. Sqrt(9). 3. Sqrt(-1). Did I stump you? Sqrt(-1) is defined as equally 'i'. Thus, when you see 'i', think sqrt(-1). Sqrt(-x) is equal to i*sqrt(x). Simple enough? Any number of the form a+b*i is an imaginary number, where 'a' and 'b' are both real numbers. The value 'a' is often denoted Re(z), and 'b' is often denoted Im(z), where z=a+b*i. Note that imaginary numbers can have a=0, however they can not have b=0. 2+3i,9i,sqrt(7)-'pi'*i,... Pure Imaginary Numbers - Simple enough, imaginary numbers where a=Re(z)=0. Thus they have no 'real' component. 2i,sqrt(19)i,'e'*i,... Complex Numbers - All numbers. As simple as that. The combination of all imaginary and real numbers. 23,sqrt(34320),'pi'^(23)/e-7*i,... Now to directly answer your questions: 1 - Integers, as we have seen above, are not the same as whole numbers. 2 - Sqrt(25) is an integer because of the perfect square exception I noted earlier. This also applies to numbers like cube root of 64 which is 4. 3 - Explained above. 4 - Explained above. 5 - Explained above. Now a simple proof that irrational numbers exist (i.e. there are numbers that can't be written as p/q where both p and q are integers that share no factors): Suppose sqrt(m)=p/q is rational and that p/q is reduced completely (p and q share no integer factors). m is an integer that is not a perfect square. Then (p^2)/(q^2)=m Thus p^2 = m * q^2 Because m and q^2 are both integers, this shows that m must be a factor of p^2 Therefore, sqrt(m) must be a factor of p However, sqrt(m) is not an integer because m is not a perfect square, so if sqrt(m) divides p, m must also divide p Let's then say that p = m * S where S is the integer p/m p^2 = m^2 * S^2 Plugging this in the earlier relation we get m^2 * S^2 = m * q^2 Therefore, m * S^2 = q^2 Using the same argument as before, we see that m is also a factor of q. Because both p and q share the factor m, they could not possibly have been in simplest form, thus proving that sqrt(m) can not equal p/q.
2015-08-06 21:33:42 UTC
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RE:

Can a negative number be considered a rational number?

for example, can -5 be considered a rational number?
alwbsok
2009-09-07 15:29:31 UTC
Yes. Rational numbers are defined to be any number that can be written as the quotient of two integers. In this case, -5 is the quotient of -5 and 1 (or -10 and 2, or 125 and -25, etc). Hence -5 is a rational number.
It's Fryday, Fryday!
2009-09-07 16:55:50 UTC
Yes all negative numbers are rational numbers. -5 is considered a rational number because it is an integer, but it isn't a whole number or a natural number because those only deal with positives. A rational number is:

*Natural numbers

*Whole numbers

*Integers

*Decimals that stop

*Decimals that repeat

If a number doesn't fit into one of those categories, it is considered irrational.
Carrie
2009-09-07 15:25:00 UTC
-5 is a rational number. any number that you can possibly WRITE is a rational number. 8.0687 is a rational number, too.

numbers like pi are irrational.
Devren and Cynthia
2014-02-22 06:38:15 UTC
pi is 3.14159265358979323846264338327950219716939937510...

That's all i know so far, but if you go to joyofpi.com it will show you more than 1,000,000 digits.


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