Question

Which of the following correctly classifies the number -5 to all of the number sets in which it belongs?

Answer 1

Answer: Choice C) Real, Rational

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Explanation:

Any number you'll encounter so far in your math course will be a real number. This is until you get to something like $\sqrt{-1}$ which is a complex number, but your teacher may not have covered that chapter yet.

Anyways, -5 is a real number because we aren't taking the square root of a negative or anything like that.

-5 is also an integer, but that choice isn't listed. The set of integers is any positive or negative whole numbers, including 0 as well.

Furthermore, -5 is considered rational because -5 = -5/1. We can write -5 as a fraction of two integers where 0 is not in the denominator. With -5 being rational, it cannot be irrational. The term "irrational" means "not rational".