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Real Numbers
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Main Concept
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The real numbers are numbers representing quantities that can vary on a continuous scale. They include the natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, rational numbers and irrational numbers. The set of real numbers is denoted by =.
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Natural numbers: the counting numbers, beginning with 1, represented by ;.
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Whole numbers: the natural numbers and 0
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Integers: the natural numbers, their negative counterparts, and 0, represented by Z.
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Irrational numbers: numbers that cannot be represented as a ratio of integers. The decimal form of a rational number is non-repeating and non-terminating.
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Some of the above sets of numbers are subsets, or more specific groups, of other sets. For example, the natural numbers are a subset of the integers; that is, all natural numbers are integers, specifically those integers greater than 0. All integers, in turn, are rational numbers. Given an integer  , it can be represented as the ratio  . On the other hand, the sets of rational and irrational numbers are complements: a number can be either rational or irrational, but not both.
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Use the check boxes to see which of the real numbers below are of the given type.
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