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rational number (another Prime Pages' Glossary entries) |
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Glossary:
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In mathematics rational means "ratio like." So a
rational number is one
that can be written as the ratio of two integers.
For example 3=3/1, -17,
and 2/3 are rational numbers.
Most real numbers (points on the number-line) are irrational (not rational). The rational numbers are those which have repeating decimal expansions (for example 1/11=0.09090909..., and 1=1.000000...=0.999999...). They are also those which have terminating continued fraction expansions. Finally, the real number x is rational if and only if there are finitely many solutions to |x - a/b| < 1/b2.
See Also: IrrationalNumber, AlgebraicNumber
Chris Caldwell © 1999-2008 (all rights reserved)
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