Real number

< 1 2 3 4 5 6 >

The set of real numbers is denoted by the symbol R (comes from the German name "Reelle Zahl").

When we use the word number without qualification, we mean "real number".

A real number is a point on the real line (also called coordinate line). On the real line you find usual numbers, fractions, roots, etc. but no complex numbers

The set of real numbers is called the continuum. Real numbers that are not algebraic are called transcendental numbers.

The German mathematician Richard Dedekind (1831 - 1916) defined the real numbers.