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Question 640264: Is -4 a real number, rational, irrational, integer, whole or a natural number?
Answer by solver91311(24713)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Real: Yes
Rational: Yes
Irrational: No (note rational and irrational are mutually exclusive)
Integer: Yes
Whole: Maybe (depends on your, or your instructor's, or your textbook author's definition of the set of whole numbers)
Natural: No.
Recommendation: Forget you ever heard the words "Whole Numbers" and "Natural Numbers" because of the fact that the definitions of these sets vary amoung the community of mathematicians. The natural numbers always include the positive integers, but may or may not include zero depending on the author. Whole numbers can be equivalent to the natural numbers using either definition or can be equivalent to the entire set of integers, again depending on the author. Instead, use Integers, if you want positive, negative, AND zero; use Positive Integers if you want to exclude negatives and zero; use Non-negative Integers if you want to exclude negatives but retain zero; and I suppose you could use Non-positive Integers if you wanted to exclude positives but retain zero.
John
My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it
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