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Questions tagged [rationality-testing]

For questions on determining whether a number is rational, and related problems. If applicable, use this tag instead of (rational-numbers) and (irrational-numbers). Consider adding a tag (radicals) or (logarithms), depending on what the question is about.

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Copeland-Erdős theorem states that if $a_{1}, a_{2}, a_{3}, \ldots$ is an increasing sequence of integers such that for every $\theta < 1$ the number of $a$'s up to $N$ exceeds $N^{\theta}$ ...
Jotazuma's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Previously, in this question, I tried to prove the rationality of $n^n$ when $n$ is irrational, and I proved it using a recurrence relation rather than the answer I accepted, which was proving that $n$...
Yusuf Maher's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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Introduction: If we take $a=2^\sqrt[3]{2}$ which is transcendental by Gelfond-Schneider Theorem, and $b=\sqrt[3]{4}$ which is algebraic irrational because it is root of monic-irreducible polynomial ...
Math Admiral's user avatar
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1 answer
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This is the first problem in this discrete math assignment, and I'm a little bit confused because I thought that the square root, cube root, nth root of a non-square, non-cube, etc. were not rational ...
Hayden's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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I am seeking to understand the structure of solutions to the diophantine equation $$\tan^2(\pi r) + \tan^2(\pi s) = 1.$$ I am conjecturing that there are no rational solutions $r, s \in \mathbb{Q}$ to ...
Mary_Smith's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
131 views

I was playing around with infinite series, specifically those that converged to rational numbers, and noticed (at least for the ones that I tried) that when I divided them by a factorial, they would ...
Apuji's user avatar
  • 73
5 votes
3 answers
202 views

If $0<x<1$ and $x$ is rational, does $2^x$ have to be irrational? Why? Also, if $2^x$ is rational, and $0<x<1$ and $x$ is rational, does $x$ have to be irrational? (i.e. contrapositive of ...
James Jin's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
515 views

I am just learning about proofs in an introductory course. I came across an example of "proof by contradiction" (see attachment) about $ֿ\sqrt{2}$ being irrational. Some online sources have ...
FeedMePi's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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I have to prove the following: Prove $\sqrt{2}$ is an irrational number using this theorem "if $a^2$ is even, $a$ must be even" I made a proof by contradiction for the statement above, but ...
rogemuggle's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
92 views

I have a symmetric two-player zero-sum game, represented as an $n \times n$ skew-symmetric payoff matrix $M$. The components of $M$ are all integers. Are the probabilities in the maximum entropy Nash ...
Shien's user avatar
  • 313
5 votes
3 answers
426 views

I am solving a math problem for fun and it amounts to proving that a specified (finite) set of numbers, each defined by an infinite series involving polynomials and the factorials, is a rationally ...
Faraz Masroor's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
78 views

Question: If $\log_3(A)$ is rational, can $\log_3(A+1)$ be rational? (Where $A$ is a positive real number.) My Working: Starting by assuming $$\log_3(A) = x \ {\rm{and}} \ \log_3(A+1) = y$$ it gives $...
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1 answer
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The number is the infinite product:$$\frac{2 \cdot 4\cdot 8 \cdot 16 \cdots}{1\cdot 3\cdot 7\cdot15 \cdots},$$ or about $3.4628.$ I have only proven this number is finite. Can you either prove it is ...
AmoebaProteus's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
387 views

I am trying to prove the following claim: Let $ 0\leq n \in \Bbb Z$ and suppose that there exists a $k \in \Bbb Z$ such that $n=4k+3$. Prove or disprove: $\sqrt n \notin \Bbb Q$ . The problem I am ...
Curious Scientist's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
106 views

Is it true or false for all instances of $m>0$, $\sqrt{m^2+1}$ is irrational? My textbook gives an answer This is true for integers $m$: $$m>0\implies m^2<m^2+1<m^2+2m+1=(m+1)^2$$ Since $...
Cyan Turnip's user avatar
14 votes
5 answers
666 views

$x^3+\dfrac{1}{x^3}$ and $x^4+\dfrac{1}{x^4}$ are rational numbers. Prove that $x+\dfrac{1}{x}$ is rational number. My solution: $x^3+\dfrac{1}{x^3}=\left(x+\dfrac{1}{x}\right)\left(x^2+\dfrac{1}{x^...
tompi2394's user avatar
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12 votes
0 answers
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A student of mine offered the following proof of the irrationality of $\sqrt{3}$: Suppose $(a/b)^2 = 3$ with $a,b$ having no common factor. Since $a^2=3b^2$, an easy parity argument (using the fact ...
James Propp's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
250 views

I'm reading Ross' "Elementary Analysis". He shows the rational zeros theorem and a proof of it. And then there are some examples such as the following ones: The basic idea is that testing ...
Red Banana's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
1k views

I understand proving that $\sqrt{7}-\sqrt {2}$ is irrational, but how does the answer change if its cube root of $7$ instead of square root? the way I solve $\sqrt{7}-\sqrt {2}$ is by assuming its ...
user904299's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
116 views

Consider $𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ ℝ$, such that $𝑥 + 𝑦 ∈ ℚ$ and $𝑥 − 3𝑦 ∈ ℚ$. Then $𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ ℚ$. Hey all. I'm recently working through a course-book that's involved with the math course I'm taking next semester ...
MathsNoob's user avatar
  • 117
1 vote
1 answer
412 views

At first, I thought that proving the irrationality of $\ln(2)$ was so easy that it was trivial. However, someone in the comments of the $115$ vote answer at Can an irrational number raised to an ...
Some Guy's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
112 views

If $b$ is rational and $c$ is real, can $x^2 + bx + c$ have one rational root and one irrational root? Use only the definition of rational numbers to prove. I think that it can't because since $b$ is ...
Intradiction's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
239 views

Is there a way to show that $$\alpha=\sqrt[3]{7+5 \sqrt{2}}+\sqrt[3]{20-14 \sqrt{2}}$$ is a rational number? I found $\alpha=3$ from doing simplifications. But, I would like to known a different ...
Kevin Duran's user avatar
-1 votes
2 answers
60 views

There already exist pages that show how two irrational numbers can sum to a rational number. However, is there an actual example of this? What are some of irrational numbers $x$ and $y$ such that $x + ...
John Liu's user avatar
  • 419
0 votes
1 answer
55 views

I have this two-variable equation $$\frac{\left(3 y^2+1\right)^2 \left(2 \cosh \frac{26 \pi y}{15} \cosh x y-\cosh (2 \pi -x) y\right)}{9 \left(y^2-1\right)^2 \cosh (x+2 \pi ) y+8 \left(3 y^2-1\...
charmin's user avatar
  • 200

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