For example, they allow you to write
1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1
Which is not possible in decimal
Comment on Kid gave a reasonable answer without all the math bullshit
Rooty@lemmy.world 3 days agoI understand fractions, I simply doubt their utility.
For example, they allow you to write
1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1
Which is not possible in decimal
Tf you mean?? You can write it in a repeating decimal as 0.333…
using ellipsis. wiki.froth.zone/wiki/Repeating_decimal
So you think
0.333… + 0.333… + 0.333… = 1
Is that clearer and more concise?
Fractional representation is the method for rational numbers, particularly if they are part of an intermediate calculation.
Decimals are lossy, fractions aren’t.
No because you said this:
If you want to precisely write to infinity you write 1/3.
You can also precisely write to infinity if you write 0.333…
well, no, it’s understood that a third is .333 to infinity, so .333+.333+.333 does equal 1 for any use not requiring precision to the point of it mattering that it was actually .33333335 when measured.
No. You wrote .333
If you want to precisely write to infinity you write 1/3.
actually .33333335
Holy fuck. Where did that 5 come from?
It came from it not being actually .333 to infinity when measured in the required engineering precision i was talking about. It’s literally a “common use” mathematical convention (you clearly are unaware of) that three times .333 is one. Solves a lot of problems due to a failure of the notation.
Hate to break it to you but anything less than a whole is a fraction of a whole thing. Decimals, too, are bits of a whole.
Jamablaya@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Saying shit like that implies you don’t really get that they are the same thing.