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For example, 20 apples divide into five groups of four apples, meaning that "twenty divided by five is equal to four". This is denoted as 20 / 5 = 4, or 20 / 5 = 4. [2] In the example, 20 is the dividend, 5 is the divisor, and 4 is the quotient.
The reciprocal of a proper fraction is improper, and the reciprocal of an improper fraction not equal to 1 (that is, numerator and denominator are not equal) is a proper fraction. When the numerator and denominator of a fraction are equal (for example, 7 / 7 ), its value is 1, and the fraction therefore is improper. Its reciprocal is ...
Two fractions a / b and c / d are equal or equivalent if and only if ad = bc.) For example, 1 / 4 , 5 / 6 , and −101 / 100 are all irreducible fractions. On the other hand, 2 / 4 is reducible since it is equal in value to 1 / 2 , and the numerator of 1 / 2 is less than the numerator ...
Zero divided by a negative or positive number is either zero or is expressed as a fraction with zero as numerator and the finite quantity as denominator. Zero divided by zero is zero. In 830, Mahāvīra unsuccessfully tried to correct the mistake Brahmagupta made in his book Ganita Sara Samgraha : "A number remains unchanged when divided by zero."
Fractions such as 1 ⁄ 3 are displayed as decimal approximations, for example rounded to 0.33333333. Also, some fractions (such as 1 ⁄ 7, which is 0.14285714285714; to 14 significant figures) can be difficult to recognize in decimal form; as a result, many scientific calculators are able to work in vulgar fractions or mixed numbers.
For the multiplicative inverse of a real number, divide 1 by the number. For example, the reciprocal of 5 is one fifth (1/5 or 0.2), and the reciprocal of 0.25 is 1 divided by 0.25, or 4. The reciprocal function, the function f(x) that maps x to 1/x, is one of the simplest examples of a function which is its own inverse (an involution).
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An example of long division performed without a calculator. ... until a number greater than or equal to 37 occurs. So 1 and 12 are less than 37, but 126 is greater ...