1.

Real Numbers are just numbers like:

1 12.38 −0.8625 34 π (pi) 198

In fact:

Nearly any number you can think of is a Real Number

Real Numbers include:

Whole Numbers (like 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc)

Rational Numbers (like 3/4, 0.125, 0.333..., 1.1, etc )

Irrational Numbers (like π, √2, etc )

Real Numbers can also be positive, negative or zero.

So ... what is NOT a Real Number?

Imaginary Numbers like √−1 (the square root of minus 1)
are not Real Numbers

Infinity is not a Real Number

Mathematicians also play with some special numbers that that aren't Real
Numbers.

The Real Number Line

The Real Number Line is like a geometric line .
 A point is chosen on the line to be the "origin". Points to the right are positive,
and points to the left are negative.

A distance is chosen to be "1", then whole numbers are marked off: {1,2,3,...},
and also in the negative direction: {...,−3,−2,−1}

Any point on the line is a Real Number:

 The numbers could be whole (like 7)

 or rational (like 20/9)
 or irrational (like π)

But we won't find Infinity, or an Imaginary Number.

Why are they called "Real" Numbers?

Because they are not Imaginary Numbers .

The Real Numbers had no name before Imaginary Numbers were thought of.
They got called "Real" because they were not Imaginary. That is the actual
answer!

Real does not mean they are in the real world

They are not called "Real" because they show the value of something real.
In mathematics we like our numbers pure, when we write 0.5 we
mean exactly half.

But in the real world half may not be exact (try cutting an apple exactly in half)

2. Examples of Imaginary Numbers

i 12.38i −i 3i/4 0.01i −i/2

3. Rational Numbers
Here are some more examples:

Number As a Fraction Rational?

5 5/1 Yes
1.75 7/4 Yes
.001 1/1000 Yes
-0.1 -1/10 Yes
0.111... 1/9 Yes
√2
(square root of 2)
? NO !
4.Famous Irrational Numbers

Pi is a famous irrational number. People have calculated Pi to

over a quadrillion decimal places and still there is no pattern. The
first few digits look like this:
3.1415926535897932384626433832795 (and more ...)

The number e ( Euler's Number ) is another famous irrational

number. People have also calculated e to lots of decimal places
without any pattern showing. The first few digits look like this:
2.7182818284590452353602874713527 (and more ...)

The Golden Ratio is an irrational number. The first few digits

look like this:
1.61803398874989484820... (and more ...)

Many square roots, cube roots, etc are also irrational numbers.
Examples:
√3 1.7320508075688772935274463415059 (etc)

√99 9.9498743710661995473447982100121 (etc)

But √4 = 2 (rational), and √9 = 3 (rational) ...

... so not all roots are irrational.
 5. Integers
Integers are like whole numbers, but they also include negative numbers ...
but still no fractions allowed!

So, integers can be negative {-1, -2,-3, -4, -5, ... }, positive {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...
}, or zero {0}

We can put that all together like this:

Integers = { ..., -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... }

Examples: −16, −3, 0, 1 and 198 are all integers.

(But numbers like ½, 1.1 and 3.5 are not integers)

6. NON Integers
1.5,

2.88,

1.3333

1/4,

3/4,

7/8

7 Negative Numbers
-1,

-2.9,

-3.14159,

-40000,

and -0.0005.
8. Zero number properties
x represents any number.
Operation Rule Example

Addition x+0=x 3+0=3

Subtraction x-0=x 3-0=3
Multiplication x×0=0 5×0=0
0 ÷ x = 0 , when x ≠ 0 0÷5=0
Division
x ÷ 0 is undefined 5 ÷ 0 is undefined
0x = 0 05 = 0
Exponentiation
x0=1 50 = 1

9. Positive Numbers

1,2,3…are whole positive numbers

5.1,5.2,5.3….. are decimal positive numbers

10. Whole Numbers

Whole Numbers are simply the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... (and so on)

Examples: 0, 7, 212 and 1023 are all whole numbers

(But numbers like ½, 1.1 and 3.5 are not whole numbers.)

11. Examples of Natural Numbers

The above number line describes the natural numbers