Describe the relationship between rational numbers and whole numbers. Are all rational numbers also whole numbers? Are all whole numbers also rational numbers? Give examples to support your answer (make it not too long and make it sound like a 8th grader wrote it)

Answer 1

Rational numbers and whole numbers are related, but they aren't the same.

Rational numbers are numbers that can be expressed as a fraction, where both the numerator (the top number) and the denominator (the bottom number) are integers, and the denominator isn't zero. For example, \( \frac{1}{2} \), \( -3 \), and \( \frac{4}{1} \) are all rational numbers.

Whole numbers, on the other hand, are a specific group of numbers that includes all the non-negative integers: 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on. Whole numbers do not include negative numbers or fractions.

Now, not all rational numbers are whole numbers. For instance, \( \frac{1}{2} \) is a rational number, but it’s not a whole number because it’s a fraction.

However, all whole numbers are indeed rational numbers because any whole number can be written as itself over 1. For example, the whole number 3 can be expressed as \( \frac{3}{1} \), which is a rational number.

In summary, while all whole numbers are rational, not all rational numbers are whole.