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Any integer can be written as a fraction with the number one as denominator. For example, 17 can be written as 17 / 1 , where 1 is sometimes referred to as the invisible denominator. [17] Therefore, every fraction and every integer, except for zero, has a reciprocal. For example, the reciprocal of 17 is 1 / 17 .
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.
This last non-simple continued fraction (sequence A110185 in the OEIS), equivalent to = [;,,,,,...], has a quicker convergence rate compared to Euler's continued fraction formula [clarification needed] and is a special case of a general formula for the exponential function:
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 ...
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 ).
A continued fraction is a mathematical expression that can be written as a fraction with a denominator that is a sum that contains another simple or continued fraction. Depending on whether this iteration terminates with a simple fraction or not, the continued fraction is finite or infinite .
However, this relaxed form of Egyptian fractions does not allow for any number to be represented using fewer fractions, as any expansion with repeated fractions can be converted to an Egyptian fraction of equal or smaller length by repeated application of the replacement + = + + (+) if k is odd, or simply by replacing 1 / k + 1 / k ...
By considering the complete quotients of periodic continued fractions, Euler was able to prove that if x is a regular periodic continued fraction, then x is a quadratic irrational number. The proof is straightforward. From the fraction itself, one can construct the quadratic equation with integral coefficients that x must satisfy.