Any number which
can be expressed in the form p/q where p and q are positive or negative
whole numbers is called rational.
For example
2/3, 3/5, -5/7, 49/-56 are rational numbers
The natural numbers
and integers are subsets of the rational numbers, which is easily
seen by putting q = 1
Any terminating or recurring decimal can be written as a rational
number
For example, 37.2567 = 372567/1000099 and 0.1313131313... = 13/99
But numbers like √2,
and √3 and
π cannot be expressed as rational numbers
and are called irrational.
