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To change 1 / 3 to a decimal, divide 1.000... by 3 (" 3 into 1.000... "), and stop when the desired accuracy is obtained, e.g., at 4 decimals with 0.3333. The fraction 1 / 4 can be written exactly with two decimal digits, while the fraction 1 / 3 cannot be written exactly as a decimal with a finite number of digits.
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.
In the decimal system, there are 10 digits, 0 through 9, which combine to form numbers. In an octal system, there are only 8 digits, 0 through 7. That is, the value of an octal "10" is the same as a decimal "8", an octal "20" is a decimal "16", and so on.
A mathematical constant is a key number whose value is fixed by an unambiguous definition, often referred to by a symbol (e.g., an alphabet letter), or by mathematicians' names to facilitate using it across multiple mathematical problems. [1]
For example, in the decimal system (base 10), the numeral 4327 means (4×10 3) + (3×10 2) + (2×10 1) + (7×10 0), noting that 10 0 = 1. In general, if b is the base, one writes a number in the numeral system of base b by expressing it in the form a n b n + a n − 1 b n − 1 + a n − 2 b n − 2 + ... + a 0 b 0 and writing the enumerated ...
The base determines the fractions that can be represented; for instance, 1/5 cannot be represented exactly as a floating-point number using a binary base, but 1/5 can be represented exactly using a decimal base (0.2, or 2 × 10 −1). However, 1/3 cannot be represented exactly by either binary (0.010101...) or decimal (0.333...), but in base 3 ...
1 ⁄ 3 = 0.33333... 1 ⁄ 7 = 0.142857142857... 1318 ⁄ 185 = 7.1243243243... Every time this happens the number is still a rational number (i.e. can alternatively be represented as a ratio of an integer and a positive integer). Also the converse is true: The decimal expansion of a rational number is either finite, or endlessly repeating.
For example, in duodecimal, 1 / 2 = 0.6, 1 / 3 = 0.4, 1 / 4 = 0.3 and 1 / 6 = 0.2 all terminate; 1 / 5 = 0. 2497 repeats with period length 4, in contrast with the equivalent decimal expansion of 0.2; 1 / 7 = 0. 186A35 has period 6 in duodecimal, just as it does in decimal. If b is an integer base ...