Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
U+00D7 × MULTIPLICATION SIGN. The division sign ( ÷) is a mathematical symbol consisting of a short horizontal line with a dot above and another dot below, used in Anglophone countries to indicate the operation of division. This usage, though widespread in some countries, is not universal and the symbol has a different meaning in other countries.
In The Republic (509d–510a), Socrates describes the divided line to Glaucon this way: . Now take a line which has been cut into two unequal parts, and divide each of them again in the same proportion, [1] and suppose the two main divisions to answer, one to the visible and the other to the intelligible, and then compare the subdivisions in respect of their clearness and want of clearness ...
In terms of partition, 20 / 5 means the size of each of 5 parts into which a set of size 20 is divided. For example, 20 apples divide into five groups of four apples, meaning that "twenty divided by five is equal to four". This is denoted as 20 / 5 = 4, or 20 / 5 = 4. [2] In the example, 20 is the dividend, 5 is the divisor, and 4 is ...
A simple fraction (also known as a common fraction or vulgar fraction, where vulgar is Latin for "common") 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 .
A mathematical symbol is a figure or a combination of figures that is used to represent a mathematical object, an action on mathematical objects, a relation between mathematical objects, or for structuring the other symbols that occur in a formula. As formulas are entirely constituted with symbols of various types, many symbols are needed for ...
Division by zero. The reciprocal function y = 1 x. As x approaches zero from the right, y tends to positive infinity. As x approaches zero from the left, y tends to negative infinity. In mathematics, division by zero, division where the divisor (denominator) is zero, is a unique and problematic special case.
Long division. In arithmetic, long division is a standard division algorithm suitable for dividing multi-digit Hindu-Arabic numerals ( positional notation) that is simple enough to perform by hand. It breaks down a division problem into a series of easier steps. As in all division problems, one number, called the dividend, is divided by another ...
An orange that has been sliced into two halves. In mathematics, division by two or halving has also been called mediation or dimidiation. [1] The treatment of this as a different operation from multiplication and division by other numbers goes back to the ancient Egyptians, whose multiplication algorithm used division by two as one of its fundamental steps. [2]