MATHEMATICS I/FBM0015

At the end of the module , you should be able to:

✓ Understand the real number system

✓ Carry out elementary operations on real
numbers
✓ Use the properties of real numbers
Numbers that are used for counting things or objects, that
is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,… are called natural numbers.
The set of natural numbers, denoted by ℕ, can thus be
expressed as

ℕ = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …
Natural numbers together with 0 form the set of whole
numbers, denoted by 𝑊

𝑊 = 0,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …
The set of integers, ℤ, consists of natural numbers, zero
and the negative of natural numbers

ℤ = … , −3, −2, 0,1, 2, 3, …

Fractions are numbers that can be written in the form

𝑝
𝑞
The set of numbers that can be written in this form
where 𝑝 and 𝑞 are integers with 𝑞 ≠ 0 are called rational
numbers, ℚ

𝑝 +
ℚ = 𝑥: 𝑥 = , 𝑝 ∈ ℤ, 𝑞 ∈ ℤ
𝑞
The decimal representations of rational numbers are
repeating or terminating.

Example:
3
= 0.6 (terminating)
5
1 (‘6’ is repeating and can be written as 0. 1ሶ 6)ሶ
= 0.1666
6
Numbers that cannot be written as fractions and whose
decimals neither terminate nor recur are called irrational
numbers and are denoted by ℚ′ or ℚഥ

Example:
5 = 2.360697 … and 𝜋 = 3.141592654 …
All rational and irrational numbers constitute the set of
real numbers, ℝ. The set of positive real numbers is
denoted by
ℝ+ = 𝑥: 𝑥 ∈ ℝ, 𝑥 > 0
and vice versa
 Real Numbers, ℝ

Rational Numbers, ℚ ഥ
Irrational Numbers, ℚ

Integers, ℤ Fractions

Whole Numbers, 𝑊

Natural Numbers, ℕ
Real numbers can be represented on a straight line,
called the real number line.
Origin
negative direction positive direction

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Note:
1. Every point on the line represent one real number
2. Every real number is represented by precisely one point
Two real numbers can be combined
by using the operations
addition (+), subtraction (−),
multiplication (×) and division (÷)

The result is also a real number

Closure Property

For real numbers 𝑎 and 𝑏,

𝑎 ∗ 𝑏 = 𝑐, 𝑐∈ℝ

where ∗ denotes any one of the four operations

Commutative Property

The operations of addition and multiplication on real

numbers are commutative as the order of the numbers
are not important.

𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝑏 + 𝑎 and 𝑎 × 𝑏 = 𝑏 × 𝑎
Associative Property

The operations of addition and multiplication on real

numbers are associative

𝑎+𝑏 +𝑐 =𝑎+ 𝑏+𝑐

𝑎×𝑏 ×𝑐 =𝑎× 𝑏×𝑐
Distributive Property

For real numbers, the operations of multiplication is

distributive over addition and subtraction

𝑎 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎𝑐
𝑎 𝑏 − 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑏 − 𝑎𝑐
Identity Property
0 is the identity element for addition
𝑎+0=0+𝑎 =𝑎
1 is the identity element for multiplication
𝑎×1=1×𝑎 =𝑎
Given two real numbers 𝑎 and 𝑏, the possibilities are:
1. 𝑎 is equal to 𝑏, written as 𝑎 = 𝑏
2. 𝑎 is greater than 𝑏, written as 𝑎 > 𝑏
3. 𝑎 is less than 𝑏, written as 𝑎 < 𝑏
The ℝ on the number line are ordered in increasing
magnitude from the left to the right

Increasing
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