CLASS IX

SUBJECT MATHEMATICS
TOPIC NUMBER SYSTEM
SUB TOPIC INTRODUCTION OF RATIONAL NUMBERS AND
IRRATIONAL NUMBERS
NO OF SESSIONS 1

Real Numbers
Introduction of Rational Numbers and Irrational Numbers
Introduction:
We have learnt about various types of numbers in our earlier classes. Let us review
them and learn more about numbers:
Natural Numbers (N) – Counting numbers are known as natural numbers. Thus 1,
2, 3, 4… etc., are all natural numbers.
Whole Numbers (W) – All natural numbers together with 0 form the collection of
all whole numbers. Thus 0, 1, 2, 3, 4…, etc., are all whole numbers.
(Every natural number is a whole number, but every whole number is not a natural
number. As 0 is a whole number which is not a natural number.)
Integers (I or Z) – All natural numbers, 0 and negatives of natural numbers form the
collection of all integers. Thus… -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4… etc., are all integers.
(Every natural number is an integer and every whole number is an integer.)
We also learnt that each and every integer can be represented by some point on the
number line. There are some types of number lying on this line. So let’s study about
them.
p
Rational Numbers – The numbers which can be written in the form q , where p and
q are integers and q ≠ 0, are known as rational numbers. Its collection is denoted by
Q.
0
 0 is a rational number, since we can write, 0 = 1 .
1 2
 Every natural number is a rational number, since we can write, 1 = 1 , 2 = 1 , 3
3
= 1 , etc.
a
 Every integer is a rational number, since an integer ‘a’ can be written as 1 .
p
 Rational numbers do not have a unique representation in the form of q .
1 2 3 4 50 1000
= = = =.. . .. .= =.. . .. . =. .. .
For example - 2 4 6 8 100 2000 and so on. These are called
equivalent rational numbers.
  Between any two rational numbers, we can insert infinitely many rational
numbers.
p
Simplest form of a Rational Number – A rational number q , is said to be in
simplest form, if p and q are integers having no common factor other than 1,( i.e. p
and q are co-prime) and q ≠ 0.
Like Natural Numbers, Whole Numbers, Integers, Rational Numbers can also be
represented on the number line.
1 1
Example1: Find a rational number lying between 3 and 2 .
1 1
Solution: Let x = 3 and y = 2 , x < y
1
A rational number lying between x and y = 2 (x + y) = 2 3 2
( )( )
1 1+ 1 = 1×5 = 5
2 6 12 .
5 1 1
Hence, 12 is a rational number lying between 3 and 2 .
Example 2: Find six rational number between 3 and 4.
Solution: This problem can be solved by two methods:
First Method: As shown in the first example, to find a rational number between x
1 7
and y, we can add x and y and divide the sum by 2, that is 2 (x + y) i.e. 2 is a
number between 3 and 4.
7
Thus we get, 3, 2 and 4. Now in the similar manner we can insert another rational
7
number between 3 and 2 i.e. 2
1
( )( 7
3+ = ×
2 2 2 )
1 13 13
= 13 7
4 . Thus the numbers are 3, 4 , 2 ,
4. We can proceed in this manner to find four more rational numbers between 3 and
4.
Second Method: The other option is to find all the five rational numbers in one step.
Since we want six rational numbers, we write 3 and 4 as rational numbers with
21 28
denominator 6 + 1 = 7 ( or any other number greater than 7), i.e. 3 = 7 and 4 = 7 .
22 23 24 25 26 27
, , , , and
Then we can check that 7 7 7 7 7 7 are all rational numbers between 3 and
22 23 24 25 26 27
, , , , and
4. So, the six numbers are: 7 7 7 7 7 7 .
Example 3: Find a rational number between 2.4 and 2.5.
Solution: 2.4 = 2.40 and 2.5 = 2.50, thus rational number between 2.4 and 2.5 is 2.41
or 2.42 or 2.43 etc.
Assignment:
1 1 3 2
and . and
1. Find a rational number lying between (i) 4 3 (ii) 8 5 (iii) 1.3 and 1.4
 1 1
and
2. Find three rational numbers lying between 5 4.
2 3
and
3. Find five rational numbers lying between 5 4.
Irrational Numbers: A number which can neither be expressed as a terminating
decimal nor as a repeating decimal, is called an irrational number. Thus, non-
terminating non-recurring decimals are irrational numbers.
Examples of irrational numbers:
(i) Numbers like: 0.01001000100001...... , is a non-terminating and non-
repeating decimal, 0.12112111211112….. is irrational,
(ii) If m is a positive integer which is not a perfect square, then √ m is irrational.
Thus, √ 2, √3, √5 , √ 6, √ 8 etc. are all irrational numbers.
3
(iii) If m is a positive integer which is not a perfect cube, then √ m is irrational.
3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Thus, √ 2 , √3 , √ 4 , √ 5 , √6 , √ 7 , √ 9 etc., are all irrational numbers.
(iv) Like rational numbers, between any two irrational or rational numbers, we
can insert infinitely many irrational numbers.

Real Numbers (R): The collection of all rational numbers and irrational numbers
together make up what we call the collection of real numbers, which is denoted by
R. Therefore, a real number is either rational or irrational.
Every real number is represented by a unique point on the number line. Also, every
point on the number line represents a unique real number.
Example1: Write three numbers whose decimal expansions are non-terminating
and non-recurring.
Solution: We know that the decimal expansion of irrational numbers is non-
terminating and non-recurring.
So, the required numbers are: √ 2, √3 and √5. , 1.223222322223222223…
1 2
and .
Example 2: Find an irrational number between 7 7
1 2
=0 . 142857 and =0 . 285714
Solution: By actual division, we can see that: 7 7 .
Then, it is clear that the number 0.16016001600016000016…… is an irrational
1 2
and .
number lying between 7 7

Homework: Solve Q.1, 2 & 3 from Exercise 1.1 and Q.1 from Exercise 1.2 of NCERT.

Video Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bpDTkxivic

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