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Real numbers

Symbol often used to denote the set of real numbers In mathematics, a real number is a value that represents a quantity along a continuum, such as 5 (an integer), 3/4 (a rational number that is not an integer), 8.6 (a rational number expressed in decimal representation), and (3.1415926535..., an irrational number). Complex numbers include real numbers as a special case. Real numbers can be divided into rational numbers, such as 42 and 23/129, and irrational numbers, such as pi and the square root of two. A real number can be given by an infinite decimal representation, such as 2.4871773339..., where the digits continue indefinitely. The real numbers are sometimes thought of as points on an infinitely long line called the number line or real line.

Basic properties
A real number may be either rational or irrational; either algebraic or transcendental; and either positive, negative, or zero. Real numbers are used to measure continuous quantities. They may in theory be expressed by decimal representations that have an infinite sequence of digits to the right of the decimal point; these are often represented in the same form as 324.823122147 The ellipsis (three dots) indicate that there would still be more digits to come. More formally, real numbers have the two basic properties of being an ordered field, and having the least upper bound property. The first says that real numbers comprise a field, with addition and multiplication as well as division by nonzero numbers, which can be totally ordered on a number line in a way compatible with addition and multiplication. The second says that if a nonempty set of real numbers has an upper bound, then it has a least upper bound. These two together define the real numbers completely in the context of the usual set theory, and allow its other properties to be deduced. For instance, we can prove from these properties that every polynomial of odd degree with real coefficients has a real root, and that if you add the square root of 1 to the real numbers, obtaining the complex numbers, the resulting field is algebraically closed.

Real numbers can be thought of as points on an infinitely long number line.

PARTS OF REAL NUMBERS


NATURAL NUMBERS
All the counting numbers are called natural numbers. Example-1, 2, 3, 4till infinity. Biggest natural number- not defined. Smallest natural number 1.

WHOLE NUMBERS
All the natural numbers including zero (0) are called the WHOLE numbers. Example-0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.till infinity. Biggest whole number not defined. Smallest whole number 0.

INTEGERS
All the positive and negative numbers together form the integers. Example-1, 2, 3, 4, 5,-1,-2,-3,-4..etc. Smallest positive integer 1. Biggest positive integer not defined. Smallest negative integer not defined. Biggest negative integer (-1).

RATIONAL NUMBERS
The numbers in the form of p/q, where p and q both are integers and co-primes. Also q is not equal to zero. These numbers are called rational numbers. Example-1/2, 2, 3,-5, 3/7 ..etc.

IRRATIONAL NUMBERS
All the numbers other than rational numbers are called irrational numbers. Example-roots of prime numbers, , etc...

Uses
In the physical sciences, most physical constants such as the universal gravitational constant, and physical variables, such as position, mass, speed, and electric charge, are modeled using real numbers. Note importantly, however, that all actual measurements of physical quantities yield rational numbers because the precision of such measurements can only be finite. Mathematicians use the symbol R (or alternatively, , the letter "R" in blackboard bold) to represent the set of all real numbers . The notation Rn refers to the Cartesian product of n copies of R, which is an n-dimensional vector space over the field of the real numbers . For example, a value from R3 consists of three real numbers and specifies the coordinates of a point in 3-dimensional space. In mathematics, real is used as an adjective, meaning that the underlying field is the field of the real numbers (or the real field). For example real matrix, real polynomial and real Lie algebra. As a substantive, the term is used almost strictly in reference to the real numbers themselves (e.g., The "set of all reals").

History
The concept of irrationality was implicitly accepted by early Indian mathematicians since Manava (c. 750690 BC), who were aware that the square roots of certain numbers such as 2 and 61 could not be exactly determined. Around 500 BC, the Greek mathematicians led by Pythagoras realized the need for irrational numbers, in particular the irrationality of the square root of 2. The Middle Ages saw the acceptance of zero, negative, integral and fractional numbers, first by Indian and Chinese mathematicians, and then by Arabic mathematicians, who were also the first to treat irrational numbers as algebraic objects, which was made possible by the development of algebra. Arabic mathematicians merged the concepts of "number" and "magnitude" into a more general idea of real numbers. The Egyptian mathematician Ab Kmil Shuj ibn Aslam (c. 850930) was the first to accept irrational numbers as solutions to quadratic equations or as coefficients in an equation, often in the form of square roots, cube roots and fourth roots. In the 16th century, Simon Stevin created the basis for modern decimal notation, and insisted that there is no difference between rational and irrational numbers in this regard.

In the 17th century, Descartes introduced the term "real" to describe roots of a polynomial, distinguishing them from "imaginary" ones. In the 18th and 19th centuries there was much work on irrational and transcendental numbers. Johann Heinrich Lambert (1761) gave the first flawed proof that cannot be rational; Adrien-Marie Legendre (1794) completed the proof, and showed that is not the square root of a rational number. Paolo Ruffini (1799) and Niels Henrik Abel (1842) both constructed proofs of AbelRuffini theorem: that the general quintic or higher equations cannot be solved by a general formula involving only arithmetical operations and roots. The development of calculus in the 18th century used the entire set of real numbers without having defined them cleanly. The first rigorous definition was given by Georg Cantor in 1871. In 1874 he showed that the set of all real numbers is uncountably infinite but the set of all algebraic numbers is countably infinite. Contrary to widely held beliefs, his first method was not his famous diagonal argument, which he published in 1891.

Euclid's Division Lemma Algorithm


Euclids division lemma, states that for any two positive integers a and b we can find two whole numbers q and r such that

Euclids division lemma can be used to find the highest common factor of any two positive integers and to show the common properties of numbers. Finding H.C.F using Euclids division lemma: Suppose, we have two positive integers a and b such that a is greater than b. Apply Euclids division lemma to the given integers a and b to find two whole numbers q and r such that, a is equal to b multiplied by q plus r. Check the value of r. If r is equal to zero then b is the HCF of the given numbers. If r is not equal to zero, apply Euclids division lemma to the new divisor b and remainder r. Continue this process till the remainder r becomes zero. The value of the divisor b in that case is the HCF of the two given numbers. Euclids division algorithm can also be used to find some common properties of numbers.

Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic


Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic states that: Every composite number can be expressed or factorized as a product of prime numbers and this factorisation is unique except in the order of the prime factors. We can write the prime factorisation of a number in the form of powers of its prime factors. By expressing any two numbers as their prime factors, their highest common factor (HCF) and lowest common multiple (LCM) can be easily calculated. The HCF of two numbers is equal to the product of the terms containing the least powers of common prime factors of the two numbers. The LCM of two numbers is equal to the product of the terms containing the greatest powers of all prime factors of the two numbers. Note that the product of the given numbers is equal to the product of their HCF and

LCM. This result is true for all positive integers and is often used to find the HCF of two given numbers if their LCM is given and vice versa.

Revisiting Rational and Irrational Numbers


A number is called a rational number if it can be written in the form a/b where a and b are integers and b 0. A number is called an irrational number if it cannot be written in the form a/b, where a and b are integers and b 0. The sum, difference, product or quotient of a rational and an irrational number is also an irrational number. Rational numbers are of two types depending on whether their decimal form is terminating or recurring.

Theorem: If p/q is a rational number, such that the prime factorization of q is of


the form 2a5b, where a and b are positive integers, then the decimal expansion of the rational number p/q terminates.

Theorem: If a rational number is a terminating decimal, it can be written in the


form p/q, where p and q are co prime and the prime factorisation of q is of the form 2a5b, where a and b are positive integers.

Theorem: If p/q is a rational number such that the prime factorisation of q is not
of the form 2a5b where a and b are positive integers, then the decimal expansion of the rational number p/q does not terminate and is recurring.

Decimal expansion of rational numbers


Rational numbers are those numbers which can be expressed in the form p/q, where q is not equal to 0, p and q are integers and co-primes.The decimal expansion of rational numbers is either terminating or none terminating and recurring/repeating. Example 1: Consider the decimal expansion of 7/8 7/8 = 0.875 Its decimal expansion is terminating. Example 2: Consider the decimal expansion of 1/7. 1/7 = 0.142857142587142587.... Its decimal expansion is non terminating and repeating. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxOOOOxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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