One day you are in high school 9th grade Algebra 1. You are sitting there solving for x , learning about lines, quadratics, and crazy things like imaginary numbers and radicals. Then you eventually graduate high school and move on with life. Then one day you have to remember this stuff again. The following is a summary from Algebra 1 Essentials for Dummies to help you remember these math facts. I had to so I am hoping this will aid you in your journey of remembering to. Mathematical Lexicon What is a Number Real Numbers: are just what the name implies: real. Real numbers represent real values -- no pretend or make-believe. They cover the gamut and can take on any form -- fractions or whole numbers, decimal numbers, that go on forever and ever without end. positive or negatives. Natural Numbers: (also called counting number) is a number that comes naturally. The natural numbers are the numbers starting with 1 and going up by ones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on into infinity. Whol