Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. An Egyptian fraction is a finite sum of distinct unit fractions, such as + +. That is, each fraction in the expression has a numerator equal to 1 and a denominator that is a positive integer, and all the denominators differ from each other.
In elementary algebra, root rationalisation (or rationalization) is a process by which radicals in the denominator of an algebraic fraction are eliminated.. If the denominator is a monomial in some radical, say , with k < n, rationalisation consists of multiplying the numerator and the denominator by , and replacing by x (this is allowed, as, by definition, a n th root of x is a number that ...
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 ...
Unit fractions can also be expressed using negative exponents, as in 2 −1, which represents 1/2, and 2 −2, which represents 1/(2 2) or 1/4. A dyadic fraction is a common fraction in which the denominator is a power of two , e.g. 1 / 8 = 1 / 2 3 .
A simple or regular continued fraction is a continued fraction with numerators all equal one, and denominators built from a sequence {} of integer numbers. The sequence can be finite or infinite, resulting in a finite (or terminated) continued fraction like
In algebra, the partial fraction decomposition or partial fraction expansion of a rational fraction (that is, a fraction such that the numerator and the denominator are both polynomials) is an operation that consists of expressing the fraction as a sum of a polynomial (possibly zero) and one or several fractions with a simpler denominator.
The sum of two proper rational fractions is a proper rational fraction as well. The reverse process of expressing a proper rational fraction as the sum of two or more fractions is called resolving it into partial fractions. For example, = + +. Here, the two terms on the right are called partial fractions.
(Recall that a rational number is one that is equivalent to the ratio of two integers.) There is a more general notion of commensurability in group theory . For example, the numbers 3 and 2 are commensurable because their ratio, 3 / 2 , is a rational number.