Irrational numbers are numbers that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two whole numbers. This is opposed to rational numbers, like 2, 7, one-fifth and -13/9, which can be, and are, expressed as the ...
Most people rarely deal with irrational numbers—it would be, well, irrational, as they run on forever, and representing them accurately requires an infinite amount of space. But irrational constants ...
This article is adapted from Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else by Jordan Ellenberg. © Penguin Press 2021 ...
A rational number can be written exactly in the form \(\frac{a}{b}\), where 𝑎 and 𝑏 are integers, while an irrational number cannot.
Math fans, celebrate. Today is Pi Day, a holiday that celebrates the world’s most famous irrational number. What are irrational numbers, you ask? As Penn State Berks professor Joni Queen describes ...
March 14, 2018, is Pi Day — that’s pi, not pie — and on Wednesday, Google marks the 30th anniversary of the math-inspired holiday with a special Doodle. Pi, denoted by the Greek letter “π”, has been ...
The ancient scholar Hippasus of Metapontum was punished with death for his discovery of irrational numbers—or at least that’s the legend. What actually happened in the fifth century B.C.E. is far from ...