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Irrational Numbers

An Irrational Number is a real number that cannot be written as a simple fraction.

Irrational means not Rational

rational vs irrational

Let's look at what makes a number rational or irrational ...

Rational Numbers

A Rational Number can be written as a Ratio of two integers (ie a simple fraction).

Example: 1.5 is rational, because it can be written as the ratio 3/2

Example: 7 is rational, because it can be written as the ratio 7/1

Example 0.333... (3 repeating) is also rational, because it can be written as the ratio 1/3
Irrational Numbers

But some numbers cannot be written as a ratio of two integers ...

...they are called Irrational Numbers.

Example: π (Pi) is a famous irrational number.

Pi

π = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795... (and more)

We cannot write down a simple fraction that equals Pi.

The popular approximation of 22/7 = 3.1428571428571... is close but not accurate.

Another clue is that the decimal goes on forever without repeating.

Cannot Be Written as a Fraction

It is irrational because it cannot be written as a ratio (or fraction),

not because it is crazy!

So we can tell if it is Rational or Irrational by trying to write the number as a simple fraction.

Example: 9.5 can be written as a simple fraction like this:

9.5 = 192

So it is a rational number (and so is not irrational)

Here are some more examples:

Number As a Fraction Rational or

Irrational?

1.75 74 Rational

.001 11000 Rational

√2

(square root of 2) ? Irrational !

Square Root of 2

Let's look at the square root of 2 more closely.

square root 2 When we draw a square of size "1",

what is the distance across the diagonal?

The answer is the square root of 2, which is 1.4142135623730950...(etc)

But it is not a number like 3, or five-thirds, or anything like that ...

... in fact we cannot write the square root of 2 using a ratio of two numbers

... I explain why on the Is It Irrational? page,

... and so we know it is an irrational number

Famous Irrational Numbers

Pi

Pi is a famous irrational number. People have calculated Pi to over a quadrillion decimal places and still
there is no pattern. The first few digits look like this:

3.1415926535897932384626433832795 (and more ...)

e (eulers number)

The number e (Euler's Number) is another famous irrational number. People have also calculated e to
lots of decimal places without any pattern showing. The first few digits look like this:

2.7182818284590452353602874713527 (and more ...)

phi

The Golden Ratio is an irrational number. The first few digits look like this:

1.61803398874989484820... (and more ...)

radical symbol

Many square roots, cube roots, etc are also irrational numbers. Examples:

√3 1.7320508075688772935274463415059 (etc)

√99 9.9498743710661995473447982100121 (etc)

But √4 = 2 (rational), and √9 = 3 (rational) ...

... so not all roots are irrational.

Note on Multiplying Irrational Numbers

Have a look at this:

π × π = π2 is irrational

But √2 × √2 = 2 is rational

So be careful ... multiplying irrational numbers might result in a rational number!

Fun Facts ....

Apparently Hippasus (one of Pythagoras' students) discovered irrational numbers when trying to write
the square root of 2 as a fraction (using geometry, it is thought). Instead he proved the square root of 2
could not be written as a fraction, so it is irrational.

But followers of Pythagoras could not accept the existence of irrational numbers, and it is said that
Hippasus was drowned at sea as a punishment from the gods!

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9

Question 10

Surds

Square Roots
Scientific Calculator

Is It Irrational?

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Rational and Irrational Numbers

Explained with examples and non examples

Rational Numbers

Can be expressed as the quotient of two integers(ie a fraction) with a denominator that is not zero.
Many people are surprised to know that a repeating decimal is a rational number. The venn diagram
below shows examples of all the different types of rational, irrational nubmers including integers, whole
numbers, repeating decimals and more.

Set of Real Numbers Venn Diagram

set of real numbers venn diagram

Examples of Rational Numbers

5 You can express 5 as 51 which is the quotient of the integer 5 and 1

2 You can express 2 as 21 which is the quotient of the integer 2 and 1

9–√ is rational because you can simplify the square root to 3 which is the quotient of the integer 3
and 1

.11¯¯¯¯¯All repeating decimals are rational. It's a little bit tricker to show why so I will do that elsewhere
.9 is rational because it can be expressed as 910 ( All terminating decimals are also rational
numbers)

.73 is rational because it can be expressed as 73100

1.5 is rational because it can be expressed as 32

Irrational Numbers

Can notbe expressed as the quotient of two integers (ie a fraction) such that the denominator is not zero

Examples of Irrational Numbers

7–√ Unlike 9–√, you cannot simplify 7–√ .

50 If a fraction, has a dominator of zero, then it's irrational

5–√ Unlike 9–√, you cannot simplify 5–√ .

π π is probably the most famous irrational number out there!

pi

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More Examples of Irrational Numbers

2√3 Although this number can be expressed as a fraction, we need more than that, for the number
to be rational. The fraction's numerator and denominator must both be integers, and 2–√ cannot be
expressed as an integer.

.2020020002... This non terminating decimal does not repeat. So, just like π, it constantly changes and
can not be represented as a quotient of two integers

Practice Problems

Problem 1

Is the number −12 rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem1

Problem 2

Is the number 25−−√ rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem2

Problem 3

Is the number 0.09009000900009... rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem3

Problem 4

Is the number 0.201¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem4
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Problem 5

Is the number 3√4 rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem5

Problem 6

Is the number 9√25 rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem6

Problem 7

Is the number ππ rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem7

Problem 8

Is the number 2√2√ rational or irrational?

SHOW ANSWER

Click for share url

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/arithmetic/numbers/rational-and-irrational-numbers-with-
examples.php#problem8

Proof that repeating decimals are rational numbers

let

x=.1¯¯¯

multiply both sides by 10

10⋅x=10⋅.1¯¯¯10x=1.1¯¯¯

subtract equation 1 from 2

10x−1x=1.1¯¯¯−.1¯¯¯9x=1x=19

Yes, the repeating decimal .1¯¯¯ is equivalent to the fraction 19

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Prealgebra

Module 8: Real Numbers

Identifying Rational and Irrational Numbers

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Identify rational numbers from a list of numbers

Identify irrational numbers from a list of numbers

In this chapter, we’ll make sure your skills are firmly set. We’ll take another look at the kinds of numbers
we have worked with in all previous chapters. We’ll work with properties of numbers that will help you
improve your number sense. And we’ll practice using them in ways that we’ll use when we solve
equations and complete other procedures in algebra.

We have already described numbers as counting numbers, whole numbers, and integers. Do you
remember what the difference is among these types of numbers?

counting numbers

,
3

whole numbers

integers

1
,

Rational Numbers

What type of numbers would you get if you started with all the integers and then included all the
fractions? The numbers you would have form the set of rational numbers. A rational number is a
number that can be written as a ratio of two integers.

RATIONAL NUMBERS

A rational number is a number that can be written in the form

, where

and

are integers and

q
≠

All fractions, both positive and negative, are rational numbers. A few examples are

13

and

20

Each numerator and each denominator is an integer.

We need to look at all the numbers we have used so far and verify that they are rational. The definition
of rational numbers tells us that all fractions are rational. We will now look at the counting numbers,
whole numbers, integers, and decimals to make sure they are rational.

Are integers rational numbers? To decide if an integer is a rational number, we try to write it as a ratio
of two integers. An easy way to do this is to write it as a fraction with denominator one.

Since any integer can be written as the ratio of two integers, all integers are rational numbers.
Remember that all the counting numbers and all the whole numbers are also integers, and so they, too,
are rational.

What about decimals? Are they rational? Let’s look at a few to see if we can write each of them as the
ratio of two integers. We’ve already seen that integers are rational numbers. The integer

8
could be written as the decimal

8.0

. So, clearly, some decimals are rational.

Think about the decimal

7.3

. Can we write it as a ratio of two integers? Because

7.3

means

10

, we can write it as an improper fraction,

73

10

. So

7.3

is the ratio of the integers

73

and

10

. It is a rational number.
In general, any decimal that ends after a number of digits such as

7.3

or

1.2684

is a rational number. We can use the place value of the last digit as the denominator when writing the
decimal as a fraction.

EXAMPLE

Write each as the ratio of two integers:

1.

15

2.

6.81

3.

Solution:
1.

15

Write the integer as a fraction with denominator 1.

15

2.

6.81

Write the decimal as a mixed number.

81

100

Then convert it to an improper fraction.

681

100

3.

Convert the mixed number to an improper fraction.

27

7
TRY IT

Let’s look at the decimal form of the numbers we know are rational. We have seen that every integer is
a rational number, since

for any integer,

. We can also change any integer to a decimal by adding a decimal point and a zero.

Integer

,
1

Decimal

2.0

1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

These decimal numbers stop.

We have also seen that every fraction is a rational number. Look at the decimal form of the fractions we
just considered.

Ratio of Integers
4

13

20

Decimal Forms

0.8

0.875

3.25

6.666

6.
¯¯¯¯¯¯

66

These decimals either stop or repeat.

What do these examples tell you? Every rational number can be written both as a ratio of integers and
as a decimal that either stops or repeats. The table below shows the numbers we looked at expressed as
a ratio of integers and as a decimal.

Rational Numbers

Fractions Integers

Number

13

20

−
2

Ratio of Integer

13

20
3

Decimal number

0.8

0.875
,

3.25

6.

¯¯¯

2.0

1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

Irrational Numbers

Are there any decimals that do not stop or repeat? Yes. The number

π
 (the Greek letter pi, pronounced ‘pie’), which is very important in describing circles, has a decimal form
that does not stop or repeat.

3.141592654…….

Similarly, the decimal representations of square roots of numbers that are not perfect squares never
stop and never repeat. For example,

2.236067978…..

A decimal that does not stop and does not repeat cannot be written as the ratio of integers. We call this
kind of number an irrational number.

IRRATIONAL NUMBER

An irrational number is a number that cannot be written as the ratio of two integers. Its decimal form
does not stop and does not repeat.

Let’s summarize a method we can use to determine whether a number is rational or irrational.

If the decimal form of a number

stops or repeats, the number is rational.

does not stop and does not repeat, the number is irrational.

EXAMPLE

Identify each of the following as rational or irrational:

1.

0.58

¯¯¯

2.

0.475

3.

3.605551275

Show Solution

TRY IT
Let’s think about square roots now. Square roots of perfect squares are always whole numbers, so they
are rational. But the decimal forms of square roots of numbers that are not perfect squares never stop
and never repeat, so these square roots are irrational.

EXAMPLE

Identify each of the following as rational or irrational:

1.

36

2.

44

Show Solution

TRY IT

In the following video we show more examples of how to determine whether a number is irrational or
rational.

LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS

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