What are Rational Numbers?
May 06, 2021
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Understanding rational and irrational numbers are vital for learning important math concepts based on them. Knowledge of numbers and their subsets is important to depict the math success of a child. A child usually gets introduced to rational numbers at the elementary stage. This helps them to establish the core foundation for learning numbers subsets. A rational number in arithmetic is a real number expressed as the ratio of two integers, where the denominator can never be a zero. The word 'rational' is derived from word ratio that implies comparing two or more values, also known as fractions. In simple terms, it is the ratio of two integers.The non-rational numbers are called irrational numbers. Irrational numbers are written in decimals forms and not in a fractional form that means irrational numbers cannot be written as the ratio of two integers. Irrational numbers have countless digits after the decimal point. Such decimals are called non-terminating decimals. Rational numbers are terminating, whereas irrational numbers are non-terminating.
The set of real numbers consists of both rational numbers and irrational numbers. For example, 2/8 is a rational number, and 4/0 is an irrational number since the denominator is zero. Another example of irrational numbers is 0.000000101... since it is non-terminating. Learning about rational numbers is necessitated due to their various applications in many quantities or measurements, which natural numbers or integers alone can not represent. For example, the measurement of quantities like weight, length, mass, or time.
Applications of Rational Numbers:
Rational numbers possess the ease and flexibility of representing various quantities because they have two-part numbers, with one part available for designating the size of the increments and the other for counting them. When a rational number is written as a fraction, these two parts are clearly visible and are called denominators and numerators, which specify their roles.
In rational numbers such as 8 or 1.05, the second part is missing or obscure, but it is readily present. As an integer, 8 needs no second part; but as a rational number, it does, and the second part is provided by the obvious relationship of 8 - 8/1. In the case of 1.05, the decimal point designates the second part; for example, in this case, the decimal point represents 100 is the denominator.
The application of rational numbers is also prevalent in our daily lives. They are a part of our daily calculations like following the recipes, determining shopping discounts, calculating prices, assessing the most cost-effective size of products, preparing budgets, savings, reading financial statements, etc. Some real-life examples of rational numbers help students to conceptualize them better.
For example, Rational Numbers are used in sharing and distributing something among a group of friends, like dividing a birthday cake among five friends; each friend will receive one-fifth part of the cake, which can be represented using a rational number ⅕. The concept of rational numbers is applied vastly for the calculation of interest and loans in the banking sector. Rational numbers are also used in performing statistics and for creating reports. For example, the statistical report based on the number of people voted may be represented as the ½ or ¾ of the total population.
Conclusion:
The concepts of rational numbers, their representations, and operations are a bit difficult to understand. Students need to acquire this primary grounding in the rational-number system through constant practice. An in-depth understanding of rational numbers requires thorough practice and learning of various advanced concepts. Cuemath offers interactive worksheets for kids to learn rational numbers in a fun and engaging way. You can easily find some math worksheets on the Cuemath website.
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