Arbitrary vs Rational - What's the difference?
arbitrary | rational |
(usually, of a decision) Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.
Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.
(mathematics) Any and all possible.
Determined by independent arbiter.
Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.
Capable of reasoning.
*
Logically sound; not contradictory or otherwise absurd.
(label) Healthy or balanced intellectually; exhibiting reasonableness.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Of a number, capable of being expressed as the ratio of two integers.
Of an algebraic expression, capable of being expressed as the ratio of two polynomials.
(label) Expressing the type, structure, relations, and reactions of a compound; graphic; said of formulae.
(mathematics) A rational number: a number that can be expressed as the quotient of two integers.
A rational being.
In mathematics terms the difference between arbitrary and rational
is that arbitrary is any and all possible while rational is a rational number: a number that can be expressed as the quotient of two integers.As adjectives the difference between arbitrary and rational
is that arbitrary is based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random while rational is capable of reasoning.As nouns the difference between arbitrary and rational
is that arbitrary is anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee while rational is a rational number: a number that can be expressed as the quotient of two integers.arbitrary
English
Adjective
(arbitrariness) (en adjective)- Benjamin Franklin's designation of "positive" and "negative" to different charges was arbitrary . In fact, electrons flow in the opposite direction to conventional current.
- The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary , as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives.
- "The Russian trials were Stalin's purges, with which he attempted to consolidate his power. Like most people in the West, I believed these show trials to be the arbitrary acts of a cruel dictator." (
Max Born, Letters to Einstein
)
- The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x.
- To secure food safety, there should first be a national standard to arbitrarily state what is wholesome and what is not; second, the final buyer should know exactly what he is purchasing. (
The World's Work ...: a history of our time
)
Noun
(arbitraries)External links
* *rational
English
Alternative forms
* rationall (obsolete)Etymology 1
From (etyl) rationel, rational, from (etyl)Adjective
(en adjective)Magician’s brain, passage=The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.}}
- ¾ is a rational number, but ?2 is an irrational number.
Antonyms
* (reasonable) absurd, irrational, nonsensical * (capable of reasoning) arational, irrational, non-rational * (number theory) irrationalEtymology 2
From (etyl) rational, from , for which see the first etymology.Noun
(en noun)- The quotient of two rationals''' is again a '''rational .
- (Young)
