document.write( "Question 549172: what is a good definition of irrational and rational numbers
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Algebra.Com's Answer #357559 by KMST(5328) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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DISCLAIMER - PERSONAL BELIEF, not official definition:
\n" ); document.write( "To me, a rational number is one that is equivalent to the ratio of two integers.
\n" ); document.write( "An irrational number is a number that is not rational, but we need to say it's real because it is a needed boundary between sets, or sequences of rational numbers. For example, we can calculate infinity of rational numbers, x, such that $\"x%5E2%3C2\"$ , and infinity or rational numbers, y such that $\"y%5E2%3E2\"$ . We can find pairs (x,y) as close together as we want. There has to be a number at the boundary between the x's and the y's, but we cannot find a rational number that fits the bill. So we say that the number exists, it's real, but it is not rational. We call it irrational, and we represent it as $\"sqrt%282%29\"$ . For other irrational numbers, we cannot even find an analogy so that we can write them as an operation, like square root, on a rational number, and we have to invent a name like $\"pi\"$ or $\"e\"$ . \n" ); document.write( "

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