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Quotition is the concept of division most used in measurement. For example, measuring the length of a table using a measuring tape involves comparing the table to the markings on the tape. This is conceptually equivalent to dividing the length of the table by a unit of length, the distance between markings.
A simple fraction (also known as a common fraction or vulgar fraction) [n 1] 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 .
Long division is the standard algorithm used for pen-and-paper division of multi-digit numbers expressed in decimal notation. It shifts gradually from the left to the right end of the dividend, subtracting the largest possible multiple of the divisor (at the digit level) at each stage; the multiples then become the digits of the quotient, and the final difference is then the remainder.
In academic literature, when inline fractions are combined with implied multiplication without explicit parentheses, the multiplication is conventionally interpreted as having higher precedence than division, so that e.g. 1 / 2n is interpreted to mean 1 / (2 · n) rather than (1 / 2) · n.
Such an interminable division-by-zero algorithm is physically exhibited by some mechanical calculators. [4] In partitive division, the dividend is imagined to be split into parts, and the quotient is the resulting size of each part. For example, imagine ten cookies are to be divided among two friends.
In abstract algebra, given a magma with binary operation ∗ (which could nominally be termed multiplication), left division of b by a (written a \ b) is typically defined as the solution x to the equation a ∗ x = b, if this exists and is unique. Similarly, right division of b by a (written b / a) is the solution y to the equation y ∗ a = b ...
Unit fractions are commonly used in fair division, and this familiar application is used in mathematics education as an early step toward the understanding of other fractions. Unit fractions are common in probability theory due to the principle of indifference .
The field of fractions of an integral domain is sometimes denoted by or (), and the construction is sometimes also called the fraction field, field of quotients, or quotient field of . All four are in common usage, but are not to be confused with the quotient of a ring by an ideal , which is a quite different concept.