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For example, a fraction is put in lowest terms by cancelling out the common factors of the numerator and the denominator. [2] As another example, if a × b = a × c , then the multiplicative term a can be canceled out if a ≠0, resulting in the equivalent expression b = c ; this is equivalent to dividing through by a .
Terms are within the same expression and are combined by either addition or subtraction. For example, take the expression: + There are two terms in this expression. Notice that the two terms have a common factor, that is, both terms have an . This means that the common factor variable can be factored out, resulting in
Division can be calculated with an abacus. [14] Logarithm tables can be used to divide two numbers, by subtracting the two numbers' logarithms, then looking up the antilogarithm of the result. Division can be calculated with a slide rule by aligning the divisor on the C scale with the dividend on the D scale. The quotient can be found on the D ...
In academic literature, when inline fractions are combined with implied multiplication without explicit parentheses, the multiplication is conventionally interpreted as having higher precedence than division, so that e.g. 1 / 2n is interpreted to mean 1 / (2 · n) rather than (1 / 2) · n.
Rather than using the ambiguous division sign (÷), [a] division is usually represented with a vinculum, a horizontal line, as in 3 / x + 1 . In plain text and programming languages, a slash (also called a solidus) is used, e.g. 3 / (x + 1). Exponents are usually formatted using superscripts, as in x 2.
A similar procedure is used for subtraction. If the two numbers do not have the same denominator then they must be transformed to find a common denominator. This can be achieved by scaling the first number with the denominator of the second number while scaling the second number with the denominator of the first number.
In mathematics, an algebraic expression is an expression built up from constants (usually, algebraic numbers) variables, and the basic algebraic operations: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (×), division (÷), whole number powers, and roots (fractional powers).
Use divide and conquer to compute the product of the primes whose exponents are odd; Divide all of the exponents by two (rounding down to an integer), recursively compute the product of the prime powers with these smaller exponents, and square the result; Multiply together the results of the two previous steps