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31 votes
31 votes
Determine if the product of 4√2 and
4/18 is rational or irrational. Explain
your answer.

User Iljn
by
2.8k points

1 Answer

12 votes
12 votes

Answer: Irrational

===================================================

Step-by-step explanation:

√2 is irrational because we cannot write it as a fraction, or ratio, of two integers. The proof of this is fairly lengthy so I recommend searching out "square root of 2 irrational proof", or something along those lines.

Since √2 is irrational, this makes 4√2 irrational as well. The proof will be similar to the previous proof.

4/18 is rational since it is a ratio of two integers.

The product of an irrational value and rational value leads to an irrational answer

The proof of this is given in the next section below.

-----------------------------

Proof by contradiction:

p,q,r,s = four nonzero integers

A = some rational number = p/q

B = some irrational number

C = some other rational number = r/s

Let's assume for a moment that A*B is rational

If that's the case, then,

A*B = C

(p/q)*B = r/s

B = (r/s)*(q/p)

B = (rq)/(sp)

B = (some integer)/(some nonzero integer)

B = some rational number

But we defined B as some irrational number, which contradicts what we arrived at just now. A number can't be both rational and irrational at the same time. The very name "irrational" literally means "not rational".

Therefore, A*B must be irrational.

User Diogo Cunha
by
3.0k points