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(For example, "two-fifths" is the fraction 2 / 5 and "two fifths" is the same fraction understood as 2 instances of 1 / 5 .) Fractions should always be hyphenated when used as adjectives. Alternatively, a fraction may be described by reading it out as the numerator "over" the denominator, with the denominator expressed as a ...
Also the converse is true: The decimal expansion of a rational number is either finite, or endlessly repeating. Finite decimal representations can also be seen as a special case of infinite repeating decimal representations. For example, 36 ⁄ 25 = 1.44 = 1.4400000...; the endlessly repeated sequence is the one-digit sequence "0".
It follows that a number is a decimal fraction if and only if it has a finite decimal representation. Expressed as fully reduced fractions, the decimal numbers are those whose denominator is a product of a power of 2 and a power of 5. Thus the smallest denominators of decimal numbers are
More recent widescreen TVs have a 16:9 aspect ratio, or 1.78 rounded to two decimal places. One of the popular widescreen movie formats is 2.35:1 or simply 2.35. Representing ratios as decimal fractions simplifies their comparison. When comparing 1.33, 1.78 and 2.35, it is obvious which format offers wider image.
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 ).
This decimal format can also represent any binary fraction a/2 m, such as 1/8 (0.125) or 17/32 (0.53125). More generally, a rational number a/b, with a and b relatively prime and b positive, can be exactly represented in binary fixed point only if b is a power of 2; and in decimal fixed point only if b has no prime factors other than 2 and/or 5.
Symbol-specific names are also used; decimal point and decimal comma refer to a dot (either baseline or middle) and comma respectively, when it is used as a decimal separator; these are the usual terms used in English, [1] [2] [3] with the aforementioned generic terms reserved for abstract usage. [4] [5]
[5] For a positive number written in a conventional positional numeral system (such as binary or decimal), its fractional part hence corresponds to the digits appearing after the radix point, such as the decimal point in English. The result is a real number in the half-open interval [0, 1).