Rational Numbers Explained in 5 Minutes

Rational Numbers Explained in 5 Minutes

Rational numbers, or fractions, are just pairs of integers that obey certain rules. In other words they are numbers of the form a/b where a and b are integers.

They can be multiplied. Here's the rule..

(a/b)*(c/d)=(a*c)/(b*d)

Here's an example (3/4)*(2/5)=(3*2)/(4*5)=6/20

They can be added. Here's the rule..

(a/b)+(c/d)=(a*d+b*c)/(b*d)

Here's an example (3/4)+(2/5)=(3*5+4*2)/(4*5)=23/20

Rational numbers do a very important job, they extend the number system. There are an infinite number of integers, and between any two integers there are an infinite number of rational numbers. That's a lot of numbers, but it's still not enough!

That's right. Between any two rational numbers there's an infinite amount of other numbers. These are yet another type of number. But the name that mathematicians picked for these number is not so creative, they called them irrational numbers!

Content written and posted by Ken Abbott abbottsystems@gmail.com