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Common fractions are used most often when the denominator is relatively small. By mental calculation, it is easier to multiply 16 by 3/16 than to do the same calculation using the fraction's decimal equivalent (0.1875). And it is more accurate to multiply 15 by 1/3, for example, than it is to multiply 15 by any decimal approximation of one ...
is really just a finite continued fraction with n fractional terms, and therefore a rational function of a 1 to a n and b 0 to b n + 1. Such an object is of little interest from the point of view adopted in mathematical analysis, so it is usually assumed that all a i ≠ 0. There is no need to place this restriction on the partial denominators b i.
An irreducible fraction (or fraction in lowest terms, simplest form or reduced fraction) is a fraction in which the numerator and denominator are integers that have no other common divisors than 1 (and −1, when negative numbers are considered). [1] In other words, a fraction a b is irreducible if and only if a and b are coprime, that is ...
The fractional part or decimal part[1] of a non‐negative real number is the excess beyond that number's integer part. The latter is defined as the largest integer not greater than x, called floor of x or . Then, the fractional part can be formulated as a difference: The fractional part of logarithms, [2] specifically, is also known as the ...
However, if the fraction 1/1 is replaced by the fraction 2/2, which is an equivalent fraction denoting the same rational number 1, the mediant of the fractions 2/2 and 1/2 is 3/4. For a stronger connection to rational numbers the fractions may be required to be reduced to lowest terms , thereby selecting unique representatives from the ...
The numerator and denominator are called the terms of the algebraic fraction. A complex fraction is a fraction whose numerator or denominator, or both, contains a fraction. A simple fraction contains no fraction either in its numerator or its denominator. A fraction is in lowest terms if the only factor common to the numerator and the ...
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 ).
The natural numbers form a set, commonly symbolized as a bold N or blackboard bold . Many other number sets are built from the natural numbers. For example, the integers are made by adding 0 and negative numbers. The rational numbers add fractions, and the real numbers add infinite decimals.