Re: TI-M: Algebra


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Re: TI-M: Algebra




In a message dated 6/4/00 6:16:13 PM Mountain Daylight Time, 
noveck@pluto.njcc.com writes:

> For any rational finite decimal, you just have to make it num/10^x, where x
>  is the number of decimal places, and then cancel out any common prime
>  factors of the numerator and denominator until they're relatively prime 
(ie,
>  the fraction is fully simplified - the only factor shared by the numerator
>  and denominator is one).  BTW, in this case the denominator's prime factors
>  will only be 2 and 5.
>  
>  For rational infinite decimals, they're going to start repeating a pattern
>  at one point.  Take, for example, 5/33 = .15151515...  Now, the 
mathematical
>  process to "exact" this would be:

But of course infinitely repeating decimals are stored with a finite number 
of significant digits, so perhaps another problem to consider is when is a 
"finitely" repeating decimal 5/33, and when is it 15/100, 1515/10000, 
151515/1000000, etc.?

JayEll