Rational numbers are considered to be a very common type of numbers that will perfectly exist in the world of mathematics. This is a topic which kids normally study after the topic of integers in mathematics and these numbers are in the form of P/Q where P and Q can be any kind of integers and Q will always be not equal to 0.
Most often people find it very confusing to differentiate between fractions and rational numbers because of the basic structure of both of them. But to become familiar with them, fractions are made up of whole numbers, on the other hand, rational numbers will always be made up of the integers into the position of numerator and denominator.
The word rational has been perfectly originated from the word ratio which is the main reason rational numbers are related to the concept of ratio. A rational number will be the one that will be represented in the form of P/Q where P and Q are integers and Q is always not equal to 0.
The set of rational numbers will be perfectly denoted by Q. In other words, if a particular number can be expressed as a fraction where numerator and denominator and the integers the number will come out to be a rational number all the time.
Basic examples of rational numbers:
- 1/2
- 3/10
- 3
- -0.7
- 141414 etc.
Types of rational numbers:
- Integers like 0, 2, -3, etc.
- Fractions whose numerator and denominators are at the integers like -1/5, 3/7, etc.
- Terminating decimals like 0.35, 0.9768, 0.72345, etc.
- Non-terminating decimal which comes with a repeating pattern like 0.141414, 0.33333, etc.
What Is The Basic Idea About Identifying Rational Numbers?
In all the above-mentioned cases the number can be perfectly represented in the form of fractions as integers, hence, this is the only way of identifying the rational numbers. To further find about a given rational number one can check out the following conditions in the whole process:
- It should be capable of being represented in the form of a fraction of integers.
- It should be inclusive of the decimal expansion of the number which is terminating or a non-terminating repeating.
- All whole numbers are rational numbers.
Rational numbers can also be perfectly represented in the form of decimals which is the main reason that people should be clear about their basic representation. Further, kids need to know that zero is also a rational number because it can be perfectly written as a fraction of integers for example 0/-2, 0/1 and various other options.
Kids need to be clear about the list of rational numbers because there are infinite numbers of rational numbers present in the world and the smallest rational number can never be determined.
It is also important for the kids to have a clear-cut idea about different kinds of arithmetic operations to be performed on rational numbers like division, subtraction, multiplication and addition.
Apart from this, it is also vital for kids to be clear about the basic differences between rational and irrational numbers so that they can have a good command over this particular chapter and are further capable of fetching good marks in the exams.
Hence, depending on platforms like Cuemath is a wonderful idea for kids to learn things from industry experts who will further be teaching everything with a good amount of concentration and focus and will ensure that kids will never have any kind of doubt in their minds associated with irrational numbers, whole numbers or rational numbers.