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More generally, a decimal with n digits after the separator (a point or comma) represents the fraction with denominator 10 n, whose numerator is the integer obtained by removing the separator. It follows that a number is a decimal fraction if and only if it has a finite decimal representation.
Negative denominators are allowed, but are commonly avoided, as every rational number is equal to a fraction with positive denominator. Fractions are written as two integers, the numerator and the denominator, with a dividing bar between them. The fraction m / n represents m parts of a whole divided into n equal parts.
If these integers are positive, then the numerator represents a number of equal parts, and the denominator indicates how many of those parts make up a unit or a whole. For example, in the fraction 3 / 4 , the numerator 3 indicates that the fraction represents 3 equal parts, and the denominator 4 indicates that 4 parts make up a whole.
In mathematics, "rational" is often used as a noun abbreviating "rational number". The adjective rational sometimes means that the coefficients are rational numbers. For example, a rational point is a point with rational coordinates (i.e., a point whose coordinates are rational numbers); a rational matrix is a matrix of rational numbers; a rational polynomial may be a polynomial with rational ...
When the numerator and the denominator are both positive, the fraction is called proper if the numerator is less than the denominator, and improper otherwise. [11] The concept of an "improper fraction" is a late development, with the terminology deriving from the fact that "fraction" means "a piece", so a proper fraction must be less than 1. [ 10 ]
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 ...
Most arithmetic operations on rational numbers can be calculated by performing a series of integer arithmetic operations on the numerators and the denominators of the involved numbers. If two rational numbers have the same denominator then they can be added by adding their numerators and keeping the common denominator.
Plotting F 6 numerators vs denominators Starbursts of iterations 1–10 superimposed. Plotting the numerators versus the denominators of a Farey sequence gives a shape like the one to the right, shown for F 6. Reflecting this shape around the diagonal and main axes generates the Farey sunburst, shown below.