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A Nontraditional Introduction to Irrational Numbers

Harold Andersen

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Abstract

Introducing high school mathematics students to the set of irrational numbers is typically done in what they must feel is an artificial and contrived fahion. Most teachers and text suggest posing the quadratic x2 = 2 and challenging students to find a solution. It has been the experience of many teachers that they have to supply the answer and then convince the students that this solution is not a member of the set of rationals.

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What this paper is about

Introducing high school mathematics students to the set of irrational numbers is typically done in what they must feel is an artificial and contrived fahion. Most teachers and text suggest posing the quadratic x2 = 2 and challenging students to find a solution. It has been the experience of many teachers that they have to supply the answer and then convince the students that this solution is not a member of the set of rationals.

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Available abstract

Introducing high school mathematics students to the set of irrational numbers is typically done in what they must feel is an artificial and contrived fahion. Most teachers and text suggest posing the quadratic x2 = 2 and challenging students to find a solution. It has been the experience of many teachers that they have to supply the answer and then convince the students that this solution is not a member of the set of rationals.

Key concepts: Irrational number, Rational number, Set (abstract data type), Mathematics education, Mathematics, Quadratic equation, Computer science, Psychology

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