REAL NUMBER SYSTEM

PREPARED BY: MICHELE O. OLIVARES

• The real number system consists of the set of real numbers and two
operations + and ∙ called addition and multiplication, respectively.
• The set of real numbers is usually denoted by the symbol ℝ.

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COUNTING OR NATURAL NUMBERS

• The set of natural numbers is denoted by the symbol ℕ.

• 1, 2, 3, 4, …

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WHOLE NUMBERS

• The set of natural numbers together with 0.

• It is denoted by the symbol 𝕎.

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INTEGERS

• The integers consist of the natural numbers together with their negatives and
0.
• …, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …
• We usually denote the set of integers by the symbol ℤ.

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RATIONAL NUMBERS

• Any rational number 𝑥 can be expressed as a ratio of integers, that is,

𝑝
𝑥=
𝑞
where 𝑝 and 𝑞 are integers and 𝑞 ≠ 0.
• The set of rational numbers is denoted by ℚ.

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IRRATIONAL NUMBERS

• Real numbers that cannot be expressed as a quotient of integers.

• This is denoted by ℚ’.
• Examples are 3
2, 𝜋, 5.

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DECIMAL REPRESENTATION OF REAL NUMBERS

• Every real number has a decimal representation.

• If a number is rational, then it is either a terminating decimal or a repeating decimal.
1 123 1
• For example, = 0.25,
4 100
, and = 0. 33.
3

• If the number is irrational, them the decimal representation is nonrepeating and

nonterminating.

• For example, 2 = 1.41421356 … , 𝜋 = 3.415927535 …

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CONVERTING REPEATING DECIMALS TO A
QUOTIENT OF TWO INTEGERS
• Let 𝑥 be a repeating decimal.
• The idea is to multiply 𝑥 by appropriate powers of 10 and then subtract to
eliminate the repeating part.

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 Real Numbers
ℝ = ℚ ∪ ℚ′

Rational Numbers Irrational Numbers

ℚ ℚ′

Integers Other Fractions

𝑝
ℤ ቚ 𝑝, 𝑞 = 1
𝑞

Whole Numbers Negative Integers

𝕎 ℤ−

Natural Numbers
ℕ

Zero

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ONE DIMENSIONAL COORDINATE SYSTEM

• There is one-to-one correspondence between the set of real numbers and the
set of points on a line.
• Thus, the real numbers can be represented using points on a line called the
real number line.
• It is also referred as the one-dimensional coordinate system.
• We choose an arbitrary reference point O, called the origin, which
corresponds to the real number 0.
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• The numbers to the right of 0 are positive while the numbers to the left are
negative.

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A. Equality Axioms
1. Reflexivity for Equality: For any 𝑎 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 = 𝑎.
2. Symmetry for Equality: For any 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, if 𝑎 = 𝑏 then 𝑏 = 𝑎.
3. Transitivity for Equality: For any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ, if 𝑎 = 𝑏 and 𝑏 = 𝑐 then 𝑎 = 𝑐.
4. Addition Property for Equality: For any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ, if 𝑎 = 𝑏 then 𝑎 + 𝑐 = 𝑏 + 𝑐.
5. Multiplication Property for Equality: For any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ, if 𝑎 = 𝑏 then 𝑎 ∙ 𝑐 = 𝑏 ∙ 𝑐.

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B. Field Axioms
1. Closure
➢Addition: For any 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 + 𝑏 ∈ ℝ.
➢Multiplication: For any 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 ∙ 𝑏 ∈ ℝ.
2. Associativity
➢Addition: For any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 𝑎 + (𝑏 + 𝑐).
➢Multiplication: For any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ, (𝑎 ∙ 𝑏) ∙ 𝑐 = 𝑎 ∙ (𝑏 ∙ 𝑐).
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3. Commutativity
➢Addition: For any 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝑏 + 𝑎.
➢Multiplication: For any 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 ∙ 𝑏 = 𝑏 ∙ 𝑎.
4. Distributivity of Multiplication over Addition
➢Left Hand: For any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ, 𝑐 ∙ 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝑐 ∙ 𝑎 + 𝑐 ∙ 𝑏.
➢Right Hand: For any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 + 𝑏 ∙ 𝑐 = 𝑎 ∙ 𝑐 + 𝑏 ∙ 𝑐.
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5. Existence of Identity Elements
➢Additive Identity: There exists a unique number 0 such that 𝑎 + 0 = 𝑎 for any
𝑎 in ℝ.
➢Multiplicative Identity: There exists a unique number 1 such that 𝑎 ∙ 1 = 𝑎 for
any 𝑎 in ℝ.

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6. Existence of Inverses
➢Additive Inverse: For every number 𝑎 in ℝ, there is a unique number −𝑎 such
that 𝑎 + −𝑎 = 0.
➢Multiplicative Inverse: For every number 𝑎 in ℝ, 𝑎 ≠ 0, there is a unique
1 1
number such that 𝑎 ∙ =1.
𝑎 𝑎

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REMARKS:

1. Subtraction is the operation that undoes addition; to subtract a number from

another, we simply add the negative of that number. By definition,
𝑎 − 𝑏 = 𝑎 + (−𝑏)

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2. Division is the operation that undoes multiplication; to divide by a number,
we multiply by the inverse of that number. If 𝑏 ≠ 0, then by definition,
𝑎 1
𝑎÷𝑏 = =𝑎∙
𝑏 𝑏

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EXAMPLE:

• Let 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 be real numbers. Give the axiom which justifies each of the
following statements.
1. 𝑥+1 +4=𝑥+ 1+4
2. If 𝑥 = 𝑦 then 𝑥 + 2 = 𝑦 + 2
3. 𝑦+𝑧 ∙6=6∙ 𝑦+𝑧
4. 𝑧+9 ∙1=𝑧+9
5. 7∙ 𝑥+𝑦 =7∙𝑥+7∙𝑦
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C. Properties of Negatives
1. −1 𝑎 = −𝑎
2. − −𝑎 = 𝑎
3. −𝑎 𝑏 = 𝑎 −𝑏 = −(𝑎𝑏)
4. −𝑎 −𝑏 = 𝑎𝑏
5. − 𝑎 + 𝑏 = −𝑎 − 𝑏
6. − 𝑎 − 𝑏 = 𝑏 − 𝑎
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D. Properties of Fractions
𝑎 𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑑+𝑏𝑐
1. 𝑎
=1 5. 𝑏
+ =
𝑑 𝑏𝑑
𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑐
2. 𝑏
∙ =
𝑑 𝑏𝑑 6. 𝑎𝑐
=
𝑎
𝑏𝑐 𝑏
𝑎 𝑐 𝑎 𝑑
3. 𝑏
÷ = ∙
𝑑 𝑏 𝑐
7. If
𝑎
𝑏
=
𝑐
𝑑
then 𝑎𝑑 = 𝑏𝑐.
𝑎 𝑏 𝑎+𝑏
4. 𝑐
+ =
𝑐 𝑐

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PROOF OF #7:
Statement Reason
𝑎 𝑐
=
𝑏 𝑑
1 1
𝑎∙ =𝑐∙
𝑏 𝑑
1 1
𝑎∙𝑏 ∙ 𝑏∙𝑑 = 𝑐∙𝑑 ∙ 𝑏∙𝑑
1 1
𝑎∙ ∙ 𝑏∙𝑑 = 𝑐∙ ∙ 𝑑∙𝑏
𝑏 𝑑
1 1
𝑎∙ ∙𝑏 ∙𝑑 =𝑐∙ ∙𝑑 ∙𝑏
𝑏 𝑑
𝑎 ∙ 1 ∙ 𝑑 = (𝑐 ∙ 1) ∙ 𝑏
𝑎∙𝑑 =𝑐∙𝑏
𝑎𝑑 = 𝑏𝑐
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SEATWORK:

• Prove that for any numbers 𝑎, 𝑏, and 𝑐 if 𝑎 + 𝑐 = 𝑏 + 𝑐, then 𝑎 = 𝑏.

• Prove that for any real numbers 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑎 ≠ 0, if 𝑎𝑏 = 𝑎 then 𝑏 = 1.

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ANSWERS TO SEATWORK:

• Proof of #1:
Statement Reason
𝑎+𝑐 =𝑏+𝑐 Given
𝑎 + 𝑐 + −𝑐 = 𝑏 + 𝑐 + (−𝑐) Addition Property for Equality
𝑎 + 𝑐 + −𝑐 = 𝑏 + [𝑐 + −𝑐 ] Associative Property for Addition
𝑎+0=𝑏+0 Existence of Additive Inverse
𝑎=𝑏 Existence of Additive Identity

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• Proof of #2:
Statement Reason
𝑎𝑏 = 𝑎 Given
1 1
𝑎𝑏 = 𝑎 Multiplication Property for Equality
𝑎 𝑎
1 1
𝑎 𝑏= 𝑎 Associative Property for Addition
𝑎 𝑎
1∙𝑏 =1 Existence of Additive Inverse
𝑏=1 Existence of Additive Identity
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PRACTICE EXERCISES:

• Prove that for any real number 𝑏, 𝑏 ≠ 0, 11 = 𝑏.

𝑏

• Prove that for any real number 𝑎, 𝑎 ∙ 0 = 0. (Hint: Start with 0 + 0 = 0.)
𝑐 𝑎
• Prove that for any real numbers 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑏 ≠ 0, if 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝑐, then
𝑏
= + 1.
𝑏

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