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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.
The simplest fraction 3 / y with a three-term expansion is 3 / 7 . A fraction 4 / y requires four terms in its greedy expansion if and only if y ≡ 1 or 17 (mod 24), for then the numerator −y mod x of the remaining fraction is 3 and the denominator is 1 (mod 6). The simplest fraction 4 / y with a four-term ...
In medieval Latin texts, sexagesimal numbers were written using Arabic numerals; the different levels of fractions were denoted minuta (i.e., fraction), minuta secunda, minuta tertia, etc. By the 17th century it became common to denote the integer part of sexagesimal numbers by a superscripted zero, and the various fractional parts by one or ...
A later text, the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, introduced improved ways of writing Egyptian fractions. The Rhind papyrus was written by Ahmes and dates from the Second Intermediate Period; it includes a table of Egyptian fraction expansions for rational numbers , as well as 84 word problems. Solutions to each problem were written out in scribal ...
For example, the numerators of fractions with common denominators can simply be added, such that + = and that <, since each fraction has the common denominator 12. Without computing a common denominator, it is not obvious as to what 5 12 + 11 18 {\displaystyle {\frac {5}{12}}+{\frac {11}{18}}} equals, or whether 5 12 {\displaystyle {\frac {5 ...
The unit fractions are the rational numbers that can be written in the form , where can be any positive natural number. They are thus the multiplicative inverses of the positive integers. When something is divided into n {\displaystyle n} equal parts, each part is a 1 / n {\displaystyle 1/n} fraction of the whole.
Since e is an irrational number (see proof that e is irrational), it cannot be represented as the quotient of two integers, but it can be represented as a continued fraction. Using calculus , e may also be represented as an infinite series , infinite product , or other types of limit of a sequence .
It can also be shown that truncating a continued fraction yields a rational fraction that is the best approximation to the root of any fraction with denominator less than or equal to the denominator of that fraction — e.g., no fraction with a denominator less than or equal to 70 is as good an approximation to √ 2 as 99/70.