The Notation of Basic Number Sets

A detailed tutorial on basic number sets. Step by step tutorial including several examples of the notation of basic number sets for reference.

There are four basic number sets – N, Z, Q, R. N belongs to Z, and Z and Q belongs to R. This means N also belongs to R. N is the set of all natural numbers. Z is the set of all integers. Q is the set of all rational numbers. R is the set of all real numbers. All the notations of these sets were picked because they relate to certain words. N and R were chosen because they stand for natural and real – which is what the sets are. Q means quotient, because rational numbers are a quotient of any integer provided the denominator is not 0. Z was picked because it stands for zahlen – a German word meaning numbers, and Z is indeed a set of (almost) all numbers.