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Exercise 1027Number theory › IrrationalityOlympiadAdded 3 Nov 2026

Uncountability of irrationals

#uncountability#Cantor#irrationals

Statement

Show that the set of irrationals is uncountable.

Hint

Q\mathbb{Q} is countable; R\mathbb{R} is uncountable; remove a countable set.

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Solution

Q\mathbb{Q} countable. List rationals as p/qp/q with a diagonal enumeration.

R\mathbb{R} uncountable. Cantor's diagonal argument on decimal expansions.

Irrationals. R∖Q\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{Q} is uncountable: if it were countable, R\mathbb{R} would be countable union of two countable sets, contradiction.

Conclusion. Almost all real numbers are irrational (in the measure-theoretic sense, the irrationals have full measure).