Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A simple fraction (also known as a common fraction or vulgar fraction, where vulgar is Latin for "common") 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 .
In the 3rd century BCE, Archimedes proved the sharp inequalities 223 ⁄ 71 < π < 22 ⁄ 7, by means of regular 96-gons (accuracies of 2·10 −4 and 4·10 −4, respectively). [ 15 ] In the 2nd century CE, Ptolemy used the value 377 ⁄ 120 , the first known approximation accurate to three decimal places (accuracy 2·10 −5 ). [ 16 ]
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. The value of an expression of this type is a positive rational number ; for instance the Egyptian fraction ...
For example, given that there is a pattern of odds of 5/4, 7/4, 9/4 and so on, odds which are mathematically 3/2 are more easily compared if expressed in the equivalent form 6/4. Fractional odds are also known as British odds, UK odds, [9] or, in that country, traditional odds. They are typically represented with a "/" but can also be ...
Calculus. In mathematics, the harmonic series is the infinite series formed by summing all positive unit fractions: The first terms of the series sum to approximately , where is the natural logarithm and is the Euler–Mascheroni constant. Because the logarithm has arbitrarily large values, the harmonic series does not have a finite limit: it ...
In mathematics, a harmonic progression (or harmonic sequence) is a progression formed by taking the reciprocals of an arithmetic progression. Equivalently, a sequence is a harmonic progression when each term is the harmonic mean of the neighboring terms. As a third equivalent characterization, it is an infinite sequence of the form.
The Akhmim wooden tablet wrote fractions in the form 1/n in terms of sums of hekat rational numbers, 1/3, 1/7, 1/10, 1/11 and 1/13. In this document a two-part set of fractions was written in terms of Eye of Horus fractions which were fractions of the form 1 / 2 k and remainders expressed in terms of a unit called ro.
Multiply both sides by x to get . Subtract 1 from each side to get The right side can be factored, Dividing both sides by x − 1 yields Substituting x = 1 yields. This is essentially the same fallacious computation as the previous numerical version, but the division by zero was obfuscated because we wrote 0 as x − 1.