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Every terminating decimal representation can be written as a decimal fraction, a fraction whose denominator is a power of 10 (e.g. 1.585 = 1585 / 1000 ); it may also be written as a ratio of the form k / 2 n ·5 m (e.g. 1.585 = 317 / 2 3 ·5 2 ).
Because = in the duodecimal system, 1 / 8 is exact; 1 / 20 and 1 / 500 recur because they include 5 as a factor; 1 / 3 is exact, and 1 / 7 recurs, just as it does in decimal. The number of denominators that give terminating fractions within a given number of digits, n, in a base b is the number of factors ...
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).
The representation has a limited precision. For example, only 15 decimal digits can be represented with a 64-bit real. If a very small floating-point number is added to a large one, the result is just the large one. The small number was too small to even show up in 15 or 16 digits of resolution, and the computer effectively discards it.
Vinculum (symbol) repeated 0.1428571428571428571... A vinculum (from Latin vinculum 'fetter, chain, tie') is a horizontal line used in mathematical notation for various purposes. It may be placed as an overline or underline above or below a mathematical expression to group the expression's elements. Historically, vincula were extensively used ...
Approximating a fraction by a fractional decimal number: 5 / 3 1.6667: 4 decimal places: Approximating a fractional decimal number by one with fewer digits 2.1784: 2.18 2 decimal places Approximating a decimal integer by an integer with more trailing zeros 23217: 23200: 3 significant figures Approximating a large decimal integer using ...
To represent the number 1,230,400 in normalized scientific notation, the decimal separator would be moved 6 digits to the left and × 10 6 appended, resulting in 1.2304 × 10 6. The number −0.004 0321 would have its decimal separator shifted 3 digits to the right instead of the left and yield −4.0321 × 10 −3 as a result.
Continued fractions with more than 20 known terms have been truncated, with an ellipsis to show that they continue. Rational numbers have two continued fractions; the version in this list is the shorter one. Decimal representations are rounded or padded to 10 places if the values are known.