rational number
a number that can be expressed exactly by a ratio of two integers.
Origin of rational number
1Words Nearby rational number
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use rational number in a sentence
If you zoom in on a sequence of rational numbers, you might approach a number that itself is not rational.
An Infinite Universe of Number Systems | Kelsey Houston-Edwards | October 19, 2020 | Quanta MagazineSimilarly, any rational real number is distinct from the corresponding rational number.
When d is a given rational number, the set constitutes a subgroup which is conjugate to the group of multiplications.
The subgroups, each of which leaves a single rational number unchanged, therefore form a single conjugate set.
British Dictionary definitions for rational number
any real number of the form a / b, where a and b are integers and b is not zero, as 7 or 7/3
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for rational number
A number that can be expressed as an integer or a quotient of integers. For example, 2, -5, and 12 are rational numbers.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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