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A simple fraction (also known as a common fraction or vulgar fraction) [n 1] is a rational number written as a/b or , where a and b are both integers. [9] As with other fractions, the denominator (b) cannot be zero. Examples include 1 / 2 , − 8 / 5 , −8 / 5 , and 8 / −5 .
Division is also not, in general, associative, meaning that when dividing multiple times, the order of division can change the result. [7] For example, (24 / 6) / 2 = 2, but 24 / (6 / 2) = 8 (where the use of parentheses indicates that the operations inside parentheses are performed before the operations outside parentheses).
The time of day is sometimes represented as a decimal fraction of a day in science and computers. Standard 24-hour time is converted into a fractional day by dividing the number of hours elapsed since midnight by 24 to make a decimal fraction. Thus, midnight is 0.0 day, noon is 0.5 d, etc., which can be added to any type of date, including (all ...
Decimal numbers are not divided directly, the dividend and divisor are multiplied by a power of ten so that the division involves two whole numbers. Therefore, if one were dividing 12,7 by 0,4 (commas being used instead of decimal points), the dividend and divisor would first be changed to 127 and 4, and then the division would proceed as above.
Long division is the standard algorithm used for pen-and-paper division of multi-digit numbers expressed in decimal notation. It shifts gradually from the left to the right end of the dividend, subtracting the largest possible multiple of the divisor (at the digit level) at each stage; the multiples then become the digits of the quotient, and the final difference is then the remainder.
For instance, a deck of 52 playing cards could be divided among 4 players by dealing the cards to into 4 piles one at a time, eventually yielding piles of 13 cards each. If there is a remainder in solving a partition problem, the parts will end up with unequal sizes.
For example, density (mass divided by volume, in units of kg/m 3) is said to be a "quotient", whereas mass fraction (mass divided by mass, in kg/kg or in percent) is a "ratio". [8] Specific quantities are intensive quantities resulting from the quotient of a physical quantity by mass, volume, or other measures of the system "size". [3]
An example of a fraction that cannot be represented by a decimal expression (with a finite number of digits) is 1 / 3 , 3 not being a power of 10. More generally, a decimal with n digits after the separator (a point or comma) represents the fraction with denominator 10 n, whose numerator is the integer obtained by removing the separator.