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Assume 3 is a perfect square for a rational number, a/b where a and b are integers in lowest terms.

Now means 3=a2 /b2 which implies the square root of 3=a/b but the square root of 3 is irrational so this is not possible.

But we need one more part to show that.

Suppose

3 = p2/q2

where p and q are integers and p/q is in lowest terms. So

3 q2 = p2 as we did above with a and b.

This means p^2 is divisible by 3. That means that p must be as well, so p^2 is

divisible by nine.

So

q2 = p2/3

and q^2 is divisible by three.

But that means that p and q are both divisible by three, so they weren't

in lowest terms, which is a contradiction because we said they were.

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Q: Why 3 is not a perfect square for any rational number plus proof?
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Why is the square root of 33 irrational?

Most high school algebra books show a proof (by contradiction) that the square root of 2 is irrational. The same proof can easily be adapted to the square root of any positive integer, that is not a perfect square. You can find the proof (for the square root of 2) on the Wikipedia article on "irrational number", near the beginning of the page (under "History").


Why is 3 square root of 2 is irrational?

sqrt(2) is irrational. 3 is rational. The product of an irrational and a non-zero rational is irrational. A more fundamental proof would follow the lines of the proof that sqrt(2) is irrational.


How is the sum of a rational and irrational number irrational?

This can easily be proved by contradiction. Without loss of generality, I will take specific numbers as an example. The proof can easily be extended to any rational + irrational number. Assumption: 1 plus the square root of 2 is rational. (It is a well-known fact that the square root of 2 is irrational. No need to prove it here; you can use any other irrational number will do.) This rational sum can be written as p / q, where "p" and "q" are whole numbers (this is basically the definition of a "rational number"). Then, the square root of 2, which is equal to the sum minus 1, is: p / q - 1 = p / q - q / q = (p - q) / q Since the difference of two whole numbers is a whole number, this makes the square root of 2 rational, which doesn't make sense.


Is there a proof that irrational numbers can be derived from rationals numbers?

I am not quite sure what you mean with "derive" - what sort of derivation you will accept. If you take the square root of an integer, unless the integer happens to be a perfect square, you get an irrational number. And yes, there is proof of that. The can be found in most high school algebra books.

Related questions

Is the square root of 32 an irrational or a rational number?

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Consider a rational number, p.p is rational so p = x/y where x and y are integers.x is an integer so x*x is an integer, and y is an integer so y*y is an integer.So p2 = (x/y)2 = x2/y2 is a ratio of two integers and so is rational.


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Most high school algebra books show a proof (by contradiction) that the square root of 2 is irrational. The same proof can easily be adapted to the square root of any positive integer, that is not a perfect square. You can find the proof (for the square root of 2) on the Wikipedia article on "irrational number", near the beginning of the page (under "History").


Why is 3 square root of 2 is irrational?

sqrt(2) is irrational. 3 is rational. The product of an irrational and a non-zero rational is irrational. A more fundamental proof would follow the lines of the proof that sqrt(2) is irrational.


How is the sum of a rational and irrational number irrational?

This can easily be proved by contradiction. Without loss of generality, I will take specific numbers as an example. The proof can easily be extended to any rational + irrational number. Assumption: 1 plus the square root of 2 is rational. (It is a well-known fact that the square root of 2 is irrational. No need to prove it here; you can use any other irrational number will do.) This rational sum can be written as p / q, where "p" and "q" are whole numbers (this is basically the definition of a "rational number"). Then, the square root of 2, which is equal to the sum minus 1, is: p / q - 1 = p / q - q / q = (p - q) / q Since the difference of two whole numbers is a whole number, this makes the square root of 2 rational, which doesn't make sense.


Can it be demonstrated that there is a difference between the number of rational numbers and the number of irrational numbers?

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Why is the square root of 10 irrational?

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Is there a proof that irrational numbers can be derived from rationals numbers?

I am not quite sure what you mean with "derive" - what sort of derivation you will accept. If you take the square root of an integer, unless the integer happens to be a perfect square, you get an irrational number. And yes, there is proof of that. The can be found in most high school algebra books.


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