Question

What type of number is 1/2?

Answer 1

Answer:

1/2 is a rational number.

Step-by-step explanation:

Real numbers are numbers that can represent "distance" along a line. The set of real numbers has subsets that include natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, and rational numbers.

Natural numbers are counting numbers. A.K.A., they are numbers that you would start counting your fingers on (1, 2, 3, ...)

Whole numbers are just natural numbers and 0.

Integers are whole numbers and their opposite. (..., -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...)

Rational numbers are integers and numbers that can be put into a fraction of two integers. For example, 3/4 is a fraction of two natural numbers (3 and 4) who are also integers. Therefore, 3/4 is a rational number.

So, what number is 1/2?

It can't be a natural number because no one counts numbers as fractions unless they were made to.

It can't be a whole number because 1/2 is not whole. It is half of 1.

It can't be an integer because integers include whole numbers and their opposites, and 1/2 isn't even a whole number.

1/2 has to be an rational number because it is a fraction of two integers, 1 and 2.