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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 .
If the ratio consists of only two values, it can be represented as a fraction, in particular as a decimal fraction. For example, older televisions have a 4:3 aspect ratio, which means that the width is 4/3 of the height (this can also be expressed as 1.33:1 or just 1.33 rounded to two decimal places). More recent widescreen TVs have a 16:9 ...
t. e. The number π (/ paɪ /; spelled out as " pi ") is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle 's circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159. The number π appears in many formulae across mathematics and physics.
In mathematics, the Leibniz formula for π, named after Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, states that = + + = = +,. an alternating series.. It is sometimes called the Madhava–Leibniz series as it was first discovered by the Indian mathematician Madhava of Sangamagrama or his followers in the 14th–15th century (see Madhava series), [1] and was later independently rediscovered by James Gregory in ...
Every decimal representation of a rational number can be converted to a fraction by converting it into a sum of the integer, non-repeating, and repeating parts and then converting that sum to a single fraction with a common denominator. For example, to convert. 8.123 {\textstyle \pm 8.123 {\overline {4567}}} to a fraction one notes the lemma:
Continued fractions can also be applied to problems in number theory, and are especially useful in the study of Diophantine equations. In the late eighteenth century Lagrange used continued fractions to construct the general solution of Pell's equation, thus answering a question that had fascinated mathematicians for more than a thousand years. [9]
In the 3rd century BCE, Archimedes proved the sharp inequalities 223 ⁄ 71 < π < 22 ⁄ 7, by means of regular 96-gons (accuracies of 2·10 −4 and 4·10 −4, respectively). [ 15 ] In the 2nd century CE, Ptolemy used the value 377 ⁄ 120 , the first known approximation accurate to three decimal places (accuracy 2·10 −5 ). [ 16 ]
Conversely the period of the repeating decimal of a fraction c / d will be (at most) the smallest number n such that 10 n − 1 is divisible by d. For example, the fraction 2 / 7 has d = 7, and the smallest k that makes 10 k − 1 divisible by 7 is k = 6, because 999999 = 7 × 142857. The period of the fraction 2 / 7 is ...