rational number

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. a number that can be expressed exactly by a ratio of two integers.

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rational number British  

noun

1. any real number of the form a / b , where a and b are integers and b is not zero, as 7 or 7/3

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rational number Scientific  

1. A number that can be expressed as an integer or a quotient of integers. For example, 2, −5, and 1/2 are rational numbers.

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Etymology

Origin of rational number

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

If the two new arrangements contained repeating patterns, the length of their translation vectors should have been related to each other—specifically, their ratio should have been a rational number.

From Scientific American • Apr. 10, 2023

TRY IT #1 Write each of the following as a rational number.

From Textbooks • Sep. 23, 2020

All of our exponential functions have had either an integer or a rational number as the base.

From Textbooks • May 6, 2020

To decide if an integer is a rational number, we try to write it as a ratio of two integers.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

Take the first rational number and imagine it on the number line.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife