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Rational and Irrational Numbers 22491 Views
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Description:
Don't be so irrational, numbers.
Transcript
- 00:03
Rational and Irrational Numbers, a la Shmoop.
- 00:07
Welcome, listeners.
- 00:08
It's time for our weekly radio show: Rational Smashional… [The number 5 talking into a microphone]
- 00:13
… where we let people know if their numbers... and their problems... are rational or irrational.
- 00:17
Caller one, you're on the air...
Full Transcript
- 00:18
<
> For my movie award party, I have six gelatin molds in the shape [The number six speaking into a mobile phone] - 00:24
of Ben Affleck's face.
- 00:25
But I have eight guests.
- 00:27
Can I divide them evenly?
- 00:30
Is this rational?
- 00:31
Thanks for the question caller 1.
- 00:33
Although each guest won't get a whole head of Affleck, they can get a fraction of one. [6 Affleck gelatin heads on a blackboard]
- 00:38
Since you’ve got six molds, you’d divide that number by the number of guests – eight.
- 00:44
Six divided by eight is the same as the fraction six-eighths.
- 00:47
So each guest would get six-eighths of Affleck… which can be reduced to three-fourths.
- 00:52
This may not be a whole number, but it is a rational number: a number that can be written [The number 3 listening to the answer on the phone]
- 00:56
as the quotient of two integers.
- 00:59
Next caller, you're on the air.
- 01:00
I really want bangs like the First Lady. [The number 6 in a rocking chair]
- 01:04
I would have to grow my hair an additional three inches.
- 01:07
Is that rational?
- 01:09
Yes, three is a whole number, and an integer.
- 01:11
It is totally rational. [5 holding up the answer]
- 01:13
Okay, but my hairstylist wants to charge me “square root of two” [Number 6 having her hair done]
- 01:19
dollars for the haircut.
- 01:22
I don't even know if it’s a deal or not.
- 01:24
Is that rational?
- 01:25
We're glad you asked caller 2.
- 01:27
There is no rational number that, when multiplied by itself, gives us an answer of 2.
- 01:32
There is no real-world equivalent for square root of two.
- 01:35
So no…
- 01:36
That number is irrational… which means it might be time for you to find a new hairstylist.
- 01:41
Tune in next time when we talk about how leading a life of pi would be irrational… [Thought bubble of the Life of Pi appears]
- 01:45
…but dividing three pies among four people would be perfectly rational. [4 people behind a table with 3 pies on it]