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However, scientific measurements typically use the metric system, which is based on decimal fractions, and starting from the secondary school level, mathematics pedagogy treats every fraction uniformly as a rational number, the quotient p / q of integers, leaving behind the concepts of improper fraction and mixed number. [20]
At the close of the 19th century three different systems of units of measure existed for electrical measurements: a CGS-based system for electrostatic units, also known as the Gaussian or ESU system, a CGS-based system for electromechanical units (EMU), and an International system based on units defined by the Metre Convention [33] for ...
[20] [21] [22] The decimal prefix for ten thousand, myria-(sometimes spelt myrio-), and the early binary prefixes double-(2×) and demi-( 1 / 2 ×) were parts of the original metric system adopted by France in 1795, [23] [d] but were not retained when the SI prefixes were internationally adopted by the 11th CGPM conference in 1960.
In the SI system and generally in older metric systems, multiples and fractions of a unit can be described via a prefix on a unit name that implies a decimal (base-10), multiplicative factor. The only exceptions are for the SI-accepted units of time (minute and hour) and angle (degree, arcminute, arcsecond) which, based on ancient convention ...
Horses are used to measure distances in horse racing – a horse length (shortened to merely a length when the context makes it obvious) equals roughly 8 feet or 2.4 metres. Shorter distances are measured in fractions of a horse length; also common are measurements of a full or fraction of a head, a neck, or a nose. [10]
The factor–label method is the sequential application of conversion factors expressed as fractions and arranged so that any dimensional unit appearing in both the numerator and denominator of any of the fractions can be cancelled out until only the desired set of dimensional units is obtained.
With so many factors, many fractions involving sexagesimal numbers are simplified. For example, one hour can be divided evenly into sections of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute. 60 is the smallest number that is divisible by every number from 1 to 6 ...
Any such decimal fraction, i.e.: d n = 0 for n > N, may be converted to its equivalent infinite decimal expansion by replacing d N by d N − 1 and replacing all subsequent 0s by 9s (see 0.999...). In summary, every real number that is not a decimal fraction has a unique infinite decimal expansion.