Real number system

P R E PA R E D B Y

LEC. KASHFIA MAISHA

Number System
It is composed of various numbers, symbols or figures representing numbers and
certain rules governing operations on them. What is of importance is the nature
and characteristics of these numbers and whether they are capable of performing
one or more operations of addition, multiplication, subtraction and division. We
initiate the number system by natural numbers and then proceed on to other
numbers.
Types of number system
Natural Number: Natural numbers are a part of the number system, including
all the positive numbers from 1 to infinity. Natural numbers are also known as
counting numbers because they do not include zero or negative numbers. They
are a part of real numbers including only the positive integers, but not zero,
fractions, decimals, and negative numbers. The smallest natural number is 1. We
know that the smallest element in N is 1. 
The set of natural numbers includes only the positive integers, i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
……….∞.The set of natural numbers in Mathematics is written as {1,2,3,...}.
Natural Number (N)
Natural numbers refer to a set of all the whole numbers excluding 0.
These numbers are significantly used in our day-to-day activities. We see
numbers everywhere around us, for counting objects, representing or
exchanging money, for measuring the temperature, telling the time, etc. These
numbers that are used for counting objects are called 'natural numbers'. For
example, while counting objects, we say 5 cups, 6 books, 1 bottle, and so on.
Properties of Natural Number (N)
The four operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, on
natural numbers, lead to four main properties of natural numbers as shown
below:
Closure Property
Associative Property
Commutative Property
Distributive Property
Properties of Natural Number (N)
Closure Property: The sum and product of two natural numbers is always a
natural number. This property applies to addition and multiplication but is not
applicable to subtraction and division.
Closure Property of Addition: a + b = c ⇒ 1 + 2 = 3, 7 + 8 = 15. This shows that
the sum of natural numbers is always a natural number.
Closure Property of Multiplication: a × b = c ⇒ 2 × 3 = 6, 7 × 8 = 56, etc. This
shows that the product of natural numbers is always a natural number.
Properties of Natural Number (N)
Associative Property: The sum or product of any three natural numbers remains
the same even if the grouping of numbers is changed. This property applies to
addition and multiplication but is not applicable to subtraction and division.
Associative Property of Addition: a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c ⇒ 2 + (3 + 1) = 2 + 4
= 6 and the same result is obtained in (2 + 3) + 1 = 5 + 1 = 6.
Associative Property of Multiplication: a × (b × c) = (a × b) × c ⇒ 2 × (3 × 1) = 2
× 3 = 6 and the same result is obtained in (a × b) × c = (2 × 3) × 1 = 6 × 1 = 6.
Properties of Natural Number (N)
Commutative Property: The sum or product of two natural numbers remains
the same even after interchanging the order of the numbers. This property applies
to addition and multiplication but is not applicable to subtraction and division.
Commutative Property of Addition: a + b = b + a ⇒ 8 + 9 = 17 and b + a = 9 + 8
= 17.
Commutative Property of Multiplication: a × b = b × a ⇒ 8 × 9 = 72 and 9 × 8 =
72.
Properties of Natural Number (N)
Distributive Property: The distributive property is known as the distributive law of
multiplication over addition and subtraction. It states that an expression that is given in
form of a (b + c) can be solved as a × (b + c) = ab + ac. This distributive law which is
also applicable to subtraction is expressed as, a (b - c) = ab - ac. This means operand 'a'
is distributed between the other two operands.
The distributive property of multiplication over addition is a × (b + c) = (a × b) + (a × c)
The distributive property of multiplication over subtraction is a × (b -c) = (a × b) - ( a ×
c).
Whole Number (W)
The set of whole numbers is the same as the set of natural numbers, except that it
includes an additional number which is 0. The set of whole numbers in
Mathematics is written as {0,1,2,3,...}. It is denoted by the letter, W.
W = {0,1,2,3,4…}
From the above definitions, we can understand that every natural number is a
whole number. Also, every whole number other than 0 is a natural number. We
can say that the set of natural numbers is a subset of the set of whole numbers.
Difference Between Natural Numbers and Whole
Numbers

Natural Number Whole Number

The set of natural numbers is N= The set of whole numbers is

{1,2,3,...∞} W={0,1,2,3,...}

The smallest natural number is 1. The smallest whole number is 0.

All natural numbers are whole

Each whole number is a natural
numbers, but all whole numbers are
number, except zero.
not natural numbers.
Whole & Natural Number on Number
Line
Integers
Integers are the collection of whole numbers and negative numbers. Similar to
whole numbers, integers also does not include the fractional part. Thus, we can
say, integers are numbers that can be positive, negative or zero, but cannot be
a fraction. We can perform all the arithmetic operations, like addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division, on integers. The examples of integers
are, 1, 2, 5,8, -9, -12, etc. The symbol of integers is “Z“.
Z= {……-8,-7,-6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,……}.
Integer on a Number Line
Rules of Integers
Rules defined for integers are:
Sum of two positive integers is an integer
Sum of two negative integers is an integer
Product of two positive integers is an integer
Product of two negative integers is an integer
Sum of an integer and its inverse is equal to zero
Product of an integer and its reciprocal is equal to 1
 Applications of Integers
Integers are not just numbers on paper; they have many real-life applications. The effect of
positive and negative numbers in the real world is different. They are mainly used to
symbolize two contradicting situations.
For example, when the temperature is above zero, positive numbers are used to denote
temperature, whereas negative numbers indicate the temperature below zero. They help
one to compare and measure two things like how big or small or more or fewer things are
and hence can quantify things.
Some real-life situations where integers come into play are player’s scores in golf, football
and hockey tournaments, the rating of movies or songs, in banks credits and debits are
represented as positive and negative amounts respectively.
 Prime Number
Prime numbers are natural numbers that are divisible by only 1 and the number itself. In
other words, prime numbers are positive integers greater than 1 with exactly two factors,
1 and the number itself. Some of the prime numbers include 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, etc.
Always remember that 1 is neither prime nor composite. Also, we can say that except for
1, the remaining numbers are classified as prime and composite numbers. All prime
numbers are odd numbers except 2, 2 is the smallest prime number and is the only even
prime number.
Two numbers are called coprime to each other if their highest common factor is 1. Prime
numbers and coprime numbers are not the same. For example, 6 and 13 are coprime
because the common factor is 1 only.
 Properties of Prime Number
Some of the properties of prime numbers are listed below:
•Every number greater than 1 can be divided by at least one prime number.
•Every even positive integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes.
•Except 2, all other prime numbers are odd. In other words, we can say that 2 is the only
even prime number.
•Two prime numbers are always coprime to each other.
•Each composite number can be factored into prime factors and individually all of these
are unique in nature.
Rational Number
A rational number is a type of real number, which is in the form of p/q where q is not equal to
zero. Any fraction with non-zero denominators is a rational number. Some of the examples of
rational numbers are 1/2, 1/5, 3/4, and so on. The number “0” is also a rational number, as we can
represent it in many forms such as 0/1, 0/2, 0/3, etc. But 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, etc. are not rational, since
they give us infinite values. We can say that any fraction fits under the category of rational
numbers, where the denominator and numerator are integers, and the denominator is not equal to
zero.
The set of rational numerals:
•Include positive, negative numbers, and zero
•Can be expressed as a fraction
Properties of Rational Number
A rational number remains the same
The results are always a rational
if we divide or multiply both the
number if we multiply, add, or
numerator and denominator with the
subtract any two rational numbers.
same factor.

If we add zero to a rational number, Rational numbers are closed under

then we will get the same number addition, subtraction, and
itself. multiplication.
Positive & Negative Rational Number
Positive Rational Numbers Negative Rational Numbers

If both the numerator and denominator If the numerator and denominator are
are of the same sign. of opposite signs.

All are greater than 0 All are less than 0

Examples of positive rational numbers: Examples of negative rational

12/17, 9/11 and 3/5 numbers: -2/17, 9/-11 and -1/5.
Examples of Rational Number
p q p/q Rational

10 2 10/2 =5 Rational 

1 1000 1/1000 = 0.001 Rational 

50 10 50/10 = 5 Rational 
Irrational Number
Irrational numbers are real numbers that cannot be represented as simple fractions.
An irrational number cannot be expressed as a ratio, such as p/q, where p and q are
integers, q≠0. It is a contradiction of rational numbers. Irrational numbers are usually
expressed as R\Q.
√prime number always gives an irrational number. For example, √3 is an
irrational number, but √4 is a rational number. Because 4 is a perfect square, such as
4 = 2 x 2 and √4 = 2, which is a rational number.  It should be noted that there are
infinite irrational numbers between any two real numbers. For example, say 1 and 2,
there are infinitely many irrational numbers between 1 and 2. 
Difference of
Rational &
Irrational
Number
Real Number
Real numbers are simply the combination of rational and irrational numbers, in the number
system. In general, all the arithmetic operations can be performed on these numbers, and they can
be represented in the number line, also. The set of real numbers consists of different categories,
such as natural and whole numbers, integers, rational and irrational numbers. Some of the
examples of real numbers are 23, -12, 6.99, 5/2, π, and so on.
The following are the four main properties of real numbers:
Commutative property
Associative property
Distributive property
Identity property
 Consider “m, n and r” are three real numbers. Then the above
properties can be described using m, n, and r as shown below:

Commulative Property: If m and n are the numbers, then the

general form will be m + n = n + m for addition and m.n = n.m
for multiplication.

Real Number Addition: m + n = n + m. For example, 5 + 3 = 3 + 5, 2 + 4 =

4 + 2.
Properties
Multiplication: m × n = n × m. For example, 5 × 3 = 3 × 5,
2 × 4 = 4 × 2.

Associative Property: If m, n and r are the numbers. The

general form will be m + (n + r) = (m + n) + r for addition(mn)
r = m (nr) for multiplication.
 Addition: The general form will be m + (n + r) = (m + n) + r. An
example of additive associative property is 10 + (3 + 2) = (10 +
3) + 2.

Multiplication: (mn) r = m (nr). An example of a multiplicative

associative property is (2 × 3) 4 = 2 (3 × 4).

Real Number Distributive Property: For three numbers m, n, and r, which are
real in nature, the distributive property is represented as:
Properties
m (n + r) = mn + mr and (m + n) r = mr + nr.

Example of distributive property is: 5(2 + 3) = 5 × 2 + 5 × 3.

Here, both sides will yield 25.
Real Number Properties

IDENTITY PROPERTY: THERE FOR ADDITION: M + 0 = M. (0 FOR MULTIPLICATION: M ×

ARE ADDITIVE AND IS THE ADDITIVE IDENTITY) 1 = 1 × M = M. (1 IS THE
MULTIPLICATIVE MULTIPLICATIVE IDENTITY)
IDENTITIES.
 Category Definition Example
Contain all counting
numbers which start from All numbers such as 1, 2, 3,
Natural Numbers
1. 4, 5, 6,…..…
N = {1, 2, 3, 4,……}

Collection of zero and All numbers including 0

Whole Numbers natural numbers. such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
W = {0, 1, 2, 3,…..} …..…

Real Number The collective result of

Includes: -infinity (-∞),
whole numbers and
Integers ……..-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2,
negative of all natural
3, 4, ……+infinity (+∞)
numbers.

Numbers that can be Examples of rational

Rational Numbers written in the form of p/q, numbers are ½, 5/4 and
where q≠0. 12/6 etc.

The numbers which are not Irrational numbers are non-

Irrational
rational and cannot be terminating and non-
Numbers
written in the form of p/q. repeating in nature like √2.
Imaginary Number
Imaginary numbers are the numbers when squared it gives the negative result. In
other words, imaginary numbers are defined as the square root of the negative
numbers where it does not have a definite value. It is mostly written in the form
of real numbers multiplied by the imaginary unit called “i”.
An imaginary number is a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit i, which
is defined by its property i² = −1. The square of an imaginary number bi is −b².
For example, 5i is an imaginary number, and its square is −25.
Complex Number
Complex numbers are the combination of both real numbers and imaginary
numbers. The complex number is of the standard form: a + bi
Where, a and b are real numbers
i is an imaginary unit.
Real Numbers Examples : 3, 8, -2, 0, 10
Imaginary Number Examples: 3i, 7i, -2i, √i
Complex Numbers Examples: 3 + 4 i, 7 – 13.6 i, 0 + 25 i = 25 i, 2 + i.