Why are there more irrational numbers than rational numbers?

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In summary, the distinction between rational and irrational numbers lies in the fact that the former are countably infinite and the latter are uncountably infinite. This was proven by mathematician Georg Cantor using his diagonal argument. While there are infinitely many of both, the two sets have different cardinalities and cannot be put into a one-to-one relationship. However, when explaining this concept to someone with limited mathematical knowledge, it may be necessary to simplify and sacrifice some accuracy in order to aid understanding.
  • #36
Paul, I am sorry to have offended you in this thread, it certainly wasn't my intention.

Matt
 
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  • #37
Ok, Matt,

See you round ... and NateTG.

P.
 
  • #38
I just googled this question and I read this:

pnaj said:
Somewhat counter-intuitively, the rationals have a one-to-one relationship with the natural numbers (that is, you can list the rationals as you can the naturals)

It should be clear that there are more irrationals than naturals!

This is what goes through my mind:

"I can understand that on an interval, there are more irrationals than naturals, but surely there would also be more rationals than naturals too?"

I'm confused as to why you don't admit that yours wasn't a helpfull answer.
 

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