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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. The picture to the right illustrates 3 / 4 of a cake. Fractions can be used to represent ratios and division. [1]
3. Also used in place of \ for denoting the set-theoretic complement; see \ in § Set theory. × (multiplication sign) 1. In elementary arithmetic, denotes multiplication, and is read as times; for example, 3 × 2. 2. In geometry and linear algebra, denotes the cross product. 3.
Slices of approximately 1/8 of a pizza. A unit fraction is a positive fraction with one as its numerator, 1/ n.It is the multiplicative inverse (reciprocal) of the denominator of the fraction, which must be a positive natural number.
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. Two different fractions may correspond to the same rational number; for example 1 / 2 and 2 / 4 are equal, that is:
In the second step, they were divided by 3. The final result, 4 / 3 , is an irreducible fraction because 4 and 3 have no common factors other than 1. The original fraction could have also been reduced in a single step by using the greatest common divisor of 90 and 120, which is 30. As 120 ÷ 30 = 4, and 90 ÷ 30 = 3, one gets
As for fractions, the simplest form is considered that in which the numbers in the ratio are the smallest possible integers. Thus, the ratio 40:60 is equivalent in meaning to the ratio 2:3, the latter being obtained from the former by dividing both quantities by 20. Mathematically, we write 40:60 = 2:3, or equivalently 40:60∷2:3.
[2] [3] The adjective real, used in the 17th century by René Descartes, distinguishes real numbers from imaginary numbers such as the square roots of −1. [4] The real numbers include the rational numbers, such as the integer −5 and the fraction 4 / 3. The rest of the real numbers are called irrational numbers.
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 ).