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Irrational numbers (): Real numbers that are not rational. Imaginary numbers: Numbers that equal the product of a real number and the imaginary unit , where =. The number 0 is both real and imaginary. Complex numbers (): Includes real numbers, imaginary numbers, and sums and differences of real and imaginary numbers.
Because the algebraic numbers form a subfield of the real numbers, many irrational real numbers can be constructed by combining transcendental and algebraic numbers. For example, 3 π + 2, π + √ 2 and e √ 3 are irrational (and even transcendental).
An imaginary number is the product of a real number and the imaginary unit i, [note 1] which is defined by its property i 2 = −1. [1] [2] The square of an imaginary number bi is −b 2. For example, 5i is an imaginary number, and its square is −25. The number zero is considered to be both real and imaginary. [3]
Hence, the set of real numbers consists of non-overlapping sets of rational, algebraic irrational, and transcendental real numbers. [3] For example, the square root of 2 is an irrational number, but it is not a transcendental number as it is a root of the polynomial equation x 2 − 2 = 0.
For example, the golden ratio, (+) /, is an algebraic number, because it is a root of the polynomial x 2 − x − 1. That is, it is a value for x for which the polynomial evaluates to zero. As another example, the complex number + is algebraic because it is a root of x 4 + 4.
In mathematics, an irrational number is any real number that is not a rational number, i.e., one that cannot be written as a fraction a / b with a and b integers and b not zero. This is also known as being incommensurable, or without common measure. The irrational numbers are precisely those numbers whose expansion in any given base (decimal ...
A real number a can be regarded as a complex number a + 0i, whose imaginary part is 0. A purely imaginary number bi is a complex number 0 + bi, whose real part is zero. It is common to write a + 0i = a, 0 + bi = bi, and a + (−b)i = a − bi; for example, 3 + (−4)i = 3 − 4i.
[2] [3] The adjective real, used in the 17th century by René Descartes, distinguishes real numbers from imaginary numbers such as the square roots of −1. [4] The real numbers include the rational numbers, such as the integer −5 and the fraction 4 / 3. The rest of the real numbers are called irrational numbers.