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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
Negative numbers: Real numbers that are less than zero. Because zero itself has no sign, neither the positive numbers nor the negative numbers include zero. When zero is a possibility, the following terms are often used: Non-negative numbers: Real numbers that are greater than or equal to zero. Thus a non-negative number is either zero or positive.
Negative numbers are used to describe values on a scale that goes below zero, such as the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales for temperature. The laws of arithmetic for negative numbers ensure that the common-sense idea of an opposite is reflected in arithmetic. For example, − (−3) = 3 because the opposite of an opposite is the original value.
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 ...
An integer is positive if it is greater than zero, and negative if it is less than zero. Zero is defined as neither negative nor positive. The ordering of integers is compatible with the algebraic operations in the following way: If a < b and c < d, then a + c < b + d; If a < b and 0 < c, then ac < bc
Methods to calculate logarithms include the Taylor series and continued fractions. [78] Integer arithmetic is not closed under logarithm and under exponentiation with negative exponents, meaning that the result of these operations is not always an integer. [79]
While primarily associated with natural numbers in arithmetic, subtraction can also represent removing or decreasing physical and abstract quantities using different kinds of objects including negative numbers, fractions, irrational numbers, vectors, decimals, functions, and matrices. [2] In a sense, subtraction is the inverse of addition.
This identification can be pursued by identifying a negative integer (where is a natural number) with the additive inverse of the real number identified with . Similarly a rational number p / q {\displaystyle p/q} (where p and q are integers and q ≠ 0 {\displaystyle q\neq 0} ) is identified with the division of the real numbers identified ...