Start the investigation with the magnifying glass

Choose 2 and increase precision. Compare with 4: both have roots, but only one of these results is irrational.

Explore the controls and explain what changed in your own words.

Your mission: find measurements that aren’t fractions

  1. Start with the chapter on radicals and the introduction to irrationals.
  2. Explore approaches on the straight.
  3. Investigate π and its applications in geometry.

Not every root is irrational: √9 = 3 is rational. √2 and π are irrational. We don’t classify a number just by how it looks like an approximation on the calculator.

Root challenge

Between which consecutive tenths does √5 lie?

Check the strategy

2,2² = 4,84 and 2,3² = 5,29. Therefore, 2,2 < √5 < 2,3. Limits are rational; the number between them remains irrational.

To move forward: explain why 3,14 is rational and π is irrational, although π ≈ 3,14.