Compare Real Numbers

​The diagram on the right shows us how to organise real numbers.

• ​A rational number is a number that can be expressed as the quotient or fraction p/q of two integers, a numerator p and a non-zero denominator q. For example, −3/7 is a rational number, as is every integer.

• ​An integer includes whole numbers and negative whole numbers. Integers can be positive, negative, or zero. For example: 1, -1, 0, 101 and -101.

• ​A whole number is a number with no fractions. An example of a whole number is the number 5.

• ​Natural numbers are numbers that we use when we are counting or ordering {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 …}

We will focus now on how to arrange real numbers in terms of their size.​