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One half is the rational number that lies midway between 0 and 1 on the number line. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely, division by one half is equivalent to multiplication by two, or "doubling".
Any binary fraction a/2 m, such as 1/16 or 17/32, can be exactly represented in fixed-point, with a power-of-two scaling factor 1/2 n with any n ≥ m. However, most decimal fractions like 0.1 or 0.123 are infinite repeating fractions in base 2. and hence cannot be represented that way.
Shilling or solidus fractions: 1/2, so called because this notation was used for pre-decimal British currency , as in "2/6" for a half crown, meaning two shillings and six pence. While the notation "two shillings and six pence" did not represent a fraction, the forward slash is now used in fractions, especially for fractions inline with prose ...
For example, in duodecimal, 1 / 2 = 0.6, 1 / 3 = 0.4, 1 / 4 = 0.3 and 1 / 6 = 0.2 all terminate; 1 / 5 = 0. 2497 repeats with period length 4, in contrast with the equivalent decimal expansion of 0.2; 1 / 7 = 0. 186A35 has period 6 in duodecimal, just as it does in decimal. If b is an integer base ...
It is the extension to non-integer numbers (decimal fractions) of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. The way of denoting numbers in the decimal system is often referred to as decimal notation. [2] A decimal numeral (also often just decimal or, less correctly, decimal number), refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal numeral ...
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 ...
Arthur Eddington argued that the fine-structure constant was a unit fraction. He initially thought it to be 1/136 and later changed his theory to 1/137. This contention has been falsified, given that current estimates of the fine structure constant are (to 6 significant digits) 1/137.036. [30]
Also the converse is true: The decimal expansion of a rational number is either finite, or endlessly repeating. Finite decimal representations can also be seen as a special case of infinite repeating decimal representations. For example, 36 ⁄ 25 = 1.44 = 1.4400000...; the endlessly repeated sequence is the one-digit sequence "0".