Full screen version
This text is usually replaced by the Flash movie.
This method of proof can
easily be generalised to prove that $\sqrt n$ is irrational
when $n$ is not a square number .
What is the length of the
diagonal of a square with sides of length 2?
How do we find the value of
$\sqrt 2$?
What number has 2 as its
square?
What is the side of a square
which has area 2?
Now $(1.4)^2=1.96$, so the number $\sqrt 2$ is roughly $1.4$.
To get a better approximation divide $2$ by $1.4$ giving about
$1.428$, and take the average of $1.4$ and $1.428$ to get
$1.414$. Repeating this process, $2\div 1.414 \approx 1.41443$
so $2\approx 1.414 \times 1.41443$, and the average of these
gives the next approximation $1.414215$. We can continue this
process indefinitely getting better approximations but never
finding the square root exactly.
If $\sqrt 2$ were a rational number, that is if it could be
written as a fraction $p/q$ where $p$ and $q$ are integers,
then we could find the exact value. The proof sorter shows that
this number is IRRATIONAL so we cannot find an exact value.