Number Line

Pronunciation: /ˈnʌm bər laɪn/ ?

Figure 1: Number line from -10 to 10 by ones.

A number line is a line with tick marks and numbers that is used to represent the set of real number.^[1] The number line in figure 1 shows all real numbers between -10 and 10. You can use other scales with number lines. The number line in figure 2 uses a scale of 10, meaning that the distance between tick marks represents 10 more.

Figure 2: Number line from -100 to 100 by tens.

The number line in figure 3 uses a scale of 1/10.

Figure 3: Number line from -100 to 100 by tens.

NASA Treasures - Coordinate System (Flash video)

For more information on this video, see NASA Connect - HT - Coordinate System (5/19/2005).

References

1. Bettinger, Alvin K. and Englund, John A.. Algebra and Trigonometry, pp 6-7. International Textbook Company, January 1963. (Accessed: 2010-01-12). http://www.archive.org/stream/algebraandtrigon033520mbp#page/n18/mode/1up.

More Information

• Line Jumper Game. 2009-03-12. http://www.funbrain.com/linejump/index.html.
• Number Line Exercise. 2009-03-12. http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_156_g_1_t_1.html?open=activities.
• The Number Line - Comparing and Ordering Integers. 2009-03-12. http://www.learningwave.com/chapters/integers/numline.html.

Cite this article as:

Number Line. 2010-01-14. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem.org. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/n/numberline.html.

Translations

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Image Credits

• All images and manipulatives are by David McAdams unless otherwise stated. All images by David McAdams are Copyright © Life is a Story Problem.org and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Revision History

2009-12-19: Added "References" (McAdams, David.)
2008-02-25: Removed reference to broken HTML (McAdams, David.)
2007-07-12: Initial version (McAdams, David.)