What makes something irrational

So we can tell if it is Rational or Irrational by trying to write the number as a simple fraction. The answer is the square root of 2 , which is 1.

Pi is a famous irrational number. People have calculated Pi to over a quadrillion decimal places and still there is no pattern. The first few digits look like this:. The number e Euler's Number is another famous irrational number.

People have also calculated e to lots of decimal places without any pattern showing. The Golden Ratio is an irrational number. I Math. Niven, I. Irrational Numbers. Numbers: Rational and Irrational. New York: Random House, Pappas, T. Rivoal, T. Paris , , Sloane, N. Stevens, J. Hamburg 18 , , Weisstein, E. Weisstein, Eric W. Explore thousands of free applications across science, mathematics, engineering, technology, business, art, finance, social sciences, and more.

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Step-by-step Solutions » Walk through homework problems step-by-step from beginning to end. Common Examples of Irrational Numbers Pi, which begins with 3. Pi is determined by calculating the ratio of the circumference of a circle the distance around the circle to the diameter of that same circle the distance across the circle. Pi has been calculated to over a quadrillion decimal places, but no pattern has ever been found; therefore it is an irrational number.

The number is named for Leonard Euler , who first introduced e in in a letter he wrote; however, he had started using the number in or The beginning of this number written out is 2. This expression is part of the discussion surrounding the subject of compound interest.