Rational numbers are numbers that can be expressed as the ratio or fraction of two integers, where the denominator is not zero. In other words, a rational number is any number that can be written in the form of p/q. This is where p and q are integers and q is not equal to zero.
Rational numbers include integers (whole numbers and their negatives) and fractions. For example, 1, -3, 4/5, -2/7, and 0 are all rational numbers because they can be expressed as the ratio of two integers.
Rational numbers can be positive, negative, or zero, and they can be either finite (terminating) or non-repeating (recurring) decimals when expressed in decimal form. For example, 1/2 is a rational number that can be expressed as the finite decimal 0.5, while 1/3 is a rational number represented by the non-repeating decimal 0.3333...
It is worth noting that irrational numbers, such as the square root of 2 (√2) or pi (π), are numbers that cannot be expressed as a fraction and are not considered rational numbers.