Defining the different types of numbers.
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• Education: Middle School
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Whole Numbers
A whole number is one that is 0 or above, has no fractions or decimals, and cannot be negative. Examples include 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 500.
Natural Numbers
A nature number is any whole number starting from 1 and up. Examples include 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 500.
Integers
An integer is any whole number but can be positive or negative. Examples include -500, -10, -3, -1, 0, 1, 3, 10, 500.
Rational Numbers
A rational number is any number that can be written as a simple fraction. This includes all whole numbers, natural numbers, and integers. A number like 8 is a rational number because it can be written as 8⁄1. Confused? It's easier to know what isn't a rational number, which are called irrational numbers, and are explained below.
Irrational Numbers
An irrational number is one that cannot be written as a simple fraction or ratio between two numbers. Simply put, these are numbers where the decimal repeats forever. Examples include √2 (square root of 2) and ℼ (pi) which starts as 3.14159265359... and then keeps going forever. Another example would be 10⁄3 which is 10 divided by 3 and results in 3.3333333333... and repeats forever.
Real Numbers
A real number is any number that can be found on the number line. This includes all of the above number types listed.
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