Real Numbers , Intervals, And Inequalities
Classification Of Real Numbers
The simplest numbers are the natural numbers :
$1,2,3,4,5, \dots $
The natural numbers form a subset of a larger class of numbers called the $integers$
$\dots ,-4,-3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3,4,\dots $
The integers in turn are a subset of a still larger class of numbers called the $rational numbers$ . With the exception that division by $zero$ is ruled out, the rational numbers are formed by taking ratios of integers . Example
$\cfrac{2}{3},\cfrac{7}{5},\cfrac{6}{1},\cfrac{0}{9},-\cfrac{5}{2}\left(=\cfrac{-5}{2}=\cfrac{5}{-2}\right)$
Observe that every integer is also a rational number because an integer $p$ can be written as the ration $p=p/1$.
The early Greeks believed that the size of every physical quantity could, in theory, be represented by a rational number . They reasoned that size of a physical quantity must consist of a certain whole number of units plus some fraction $m/n$ of an additional unit. This idea was shattered in the fifth century B.C. by Hippasus of Metapontum who demonstrated the existence of
irrational numbers, that is,numbers that cannot be expressed as the ratio of integers.Using geometric methods , he showed that the hypotenuse of the right triangle in Figure 1.1.1 cannot be expressed as the ratio of integers, thereby proving that $\sqrt{2}$ is an irrational number. Other examples of irrational numbers are
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Figure 1.1.1 |
$\sqrt{3},\sqrt{5}, 1+\sqrt{2},\sqrt[3]{7}, \pi ,\cos 19^\circ$
The rational and irrational numbers together comprise a larger class of numbers,called real numbers or sometimes the real number system.
In computations with real numbers, division by zero is never allowed because a relation ship of the form $y=p/0$ would imply that .
$0\dot y=p$
If $p$ is different from zero, this equation is contradictory ; and if $p$ is equal to zero, this equation is satisfied by any number $y$, so the ratio $0/0$ does not have a unique value - a situation that is mathematically unsatisfactory . For these reasons such symbols as $p/0$ and $0/0$ are not assigned a value ; they are said to be undefined .
Because the square of a real number cannot be negative, the equation
$x^2=-1$
has no solution on the real number system . In the eighteenth century mathematicians remedied this problem by inventing a new number, which they denoted by
$i=\sqrt{-1}$
and which they defined to have the property $i^2=-1$. This, in turn, led to the development of the complex numbers, which are numbers of the form
$a+bi$
where $a$ and $b$ are real numbers. Some examples are
$2+3i\;[a=2,b=3],\; 3-4i\;[a=3,b=-4],\;6i \;[a=0,b=6],\; \cfrac{2}{3} [a=\cfrac{2}{3},b=0]$
Observe that every real number $a$ is also a complex number because it can be written as
$a=a+0i$
Thus, the real numbers are a subset of the complex numbers. Those complex numbers that are not real numbers are called imaginary numbers . We shall be concerned primarily with real numbers; however, complex numbers will arise in the course of solving equations . For example, the solutions of the quadratic equation
$ax^2+bx+c=0$
which are given by the quadratic formula
$x=\cfrac{-b\pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$
are imaginary if the quantity $b^2-4ac$ [called the discriminant of (1)] is negative.
The hierarchy of numbers is summarized in Figure 1.1.2
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Figure 1.1.2 |
Rational and irrational numbers can be distinguished by their decimal representations . Rational numbers have decimals that are repeating , by which we mean that there is some point in the decimal representation at which the digits that follow consist of a fixed block of integers repeated over and over. For example,
$\cfrac{4}{3} =1.333\dots ,\cfrac{3}{11}=.272727\dots ,\cfrac{5}{7}=.714285714285714285\dots $
Repeating decimal that consist of zeros from some point on are called terminating decimal. Some example are
$\cfrac{1}{2}=.50000 \dots ,\cfrac{12}{4}=3.0000\dots ,\cfrac{8}{25} = .32000\dots $
It is usual to omit the repetitive zeros in terminating decimals . For example,
$\cfrac{1}{2}=.5 ,\cfrac{12}{4}=3 , \cfrac{8}{25}=.32$
Moreover, it has become common to denote repeating decimals by writing the repeating digits only once , but with a bar over them to indicate the repetition . For example,
$\cfrac{4}{3}=1.\overline{3}, \cfrac{3}{11} =.\overline{27}, \cfrac{5}{7}=.\overline{714285}$
Rational numbers are represented by repeating decimal, and conversely every repeating decimal represents a rational number. Thus , the
irrational numbers can be viewed as those real numbers that are represented by
nonrepeating decimals. For example , the decimal
$.101001000100001000001 \dots$
does not repeat because the number of zeros between the ones keeps growing . Thus , it represents an irrational number .
Irrational numbers cannot be represented with perfect accuracy in decimal notation . For example $\pi$ is only approximated by the decimal $3.14$ . Moreover , on matter how many decimal places we use , even if we compute $\pi$ to $2000$ places, as in Figure 1.1.3, we still have only an approximation to $\pi$
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Figure 1.1.3 |
REMARK . Beginning mathematics students are sometimes taught to approximate $pi$ by $\cfrac{22}{7}$ Note, however , that
$\cfrac{27}{7}=3.\overline{142857}$
is a rational number whose decimal representation begins to differ from $\pi$ in the third decimal place .