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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 .
Truncating the continued fraction at any point yields a rational approximation for π; the first four of these are 3, 22 / 7 , 333 / 106 , and 355 / 113 . These numbers are among the best-known and most widely used historical approximations of the constant.
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 ).
An Egyptian fraction is a finite sum of distinct unit fractions, such as That is, each fraction in the expression has a numerator equal to 1 and a denominator that is a positive integer, and all the denominators differ from each other. The value of an expression of this type is a positive rational number ; for instance the Egyptian fraction ...
As for fractions, the simplest form is considered that in which the numbers in the ratio are the smallest possible integers. Thus, the ratio 40:60 is equivalent in meaning to the ratio 2:3, the latter being obtained from the former by dividing both quantities by 20. Mathematically, we write 40:60 = 2:3, or equivalently 40:60∷2:3.
One half is a rational number that lies midway between nil and unity (which are the elementary additive and multiplicative identities) as the quotient of the first two non-zero integers, . It has two different decimal representations in base ten, the familiar and the recurring , with a similar pair of expansions in any even base; while in odd ...
The Chinese mathematician Liu Hui in 263 CE computed π to between 3.141 024 and 3.142 708 by inscribing a 96-gon and 192-gon; the average of these two values is 3.141 866 (accuracy 9·10 −5). He also suggested that 3.14 was a good enough approximation for practical purposes.
22 7 is a widely used Diophantine approximation of π. It is a convergent in the simple continued fraction expansion of π. It is greater than π, as can be readily seen in the decimal expansions of these values: The approximation has been known since antiquity. Archimedes wrote the first known proof that 22 7 is an overestimate in ...