Question

When the numbers \(\frac{5}{2}, \frac{12}{11}, \frac{5}{4}, \frac{7}{6}\) are placed on the number line, which of the following will be nearest to 0?

(a) \(\frac{5}{4}\)

(b) \(\frac{12}{11}\)

(c) \(\frac{7}{6}\)

(d) \(\frac{5}{2}\)

This question was posed to me by my college professor while I was bunking the class.

My question is taken from Representation of Numbers on Number Line topic in portion Rational Numbers of Mathematics – Class 8

Answer 1

Right answer is (b) \(\frac{12}{11}\)

To elaborate: All the numbers given to us are positive and according to the sign convention they would be placed on the right side of the 0. Here we have 4 numbers which are

\(\frac{5}{2}\) = 2.5

\(\frac{7}{6}\) = 1.67

\(\frac{5}{4}\) = 1.25

\(\frac{12}{11}\) = 1.09

Among these four decimal numbers the smallest is 1.09 which is decimal representation of \(\frac{12}{11}\), this will be nearest to the center i.e. 0.