Question

can whole numbers be rational numbers

Answer 1

NO, NOT every rational number is a whole number. A rational number is any number which can be expressed as the quotient of two integers, i.e., a/b, where a and b are both integers and b≠ 0, for example, the whole number 5 is a rational number because 5 = 5/1; 5 and 1 are integers; This is true for any whole number); therefore, ALL whole numbers are rational numbers, but not all rational numbers are whole numbers. The set of whole numbers is the set of all non-negative integers: {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, ... }, but there are an infinite number of rational numbers which are NOT whole numbers, for example, 1/2, 2/3, 5/8, 3/4, 17/5, .6 = 3/5, 2¾ = 11/4, .7 = 7/10, and .1111111 ... = 1/9, -1/2, -1/11, -5/6, -.9, and -14/3.