Fractions v. Decimals

Khandro | 11:25 Fri 29th Oct 2010 | Science

48 Answers

Though I have seen U.K. motorway signs that read 'Exit 15, 2 1/3 miles' (which must cause puzzlement to foreign visitors), overall and since decimalization of the pound, we seem to abandon more and more the use of fractions which are often an inefficient means of mathmatical notation and lead to mathmatical infinities, for example, if you divide 10 by three in base ten you get 3.3 recurring (infinitely). Equally you could say that the answer is 3 1/3 with no infinite recurrence, - end of story! Why are modern scientists, mathematicians and everyone else so ready to abandon fractions ?

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R1Geezer

In fact as beso says, decimals create far more problems in programming than fractions.

ummmm

No R1...you're a pleb for saying chuck is talking b0llicks as usual. Half of us wouldn't have a working computer if it wasn't for him. So, in my opinion, that was a very harsh comment and I think you should say you are very very sorry to Chuck....

ChuckFickens

I wouldn't worry about it, I've got a much thicker skin than that.

(but the google answers gave a answer in decimals, I did say without using decimals)

Khandro

Question Author

fredpuli47; yes, there is a 'something 1/3 mile' sign on the M25 clockwise on the bottom left quarter (or .25 !) somewhere. To use decimals for everything would be like having 9 people to dinner and cutting the pie into 10 pieces, giving everyone a piece and a bit of the extra one, far better to cut it into 9 and give them all 1/9th.

ummmm

I know Chuck....there was a hint of sarcasm in my answer :-)))) I wouldn't tell someone to be 'very very' sorry. Or even 'very' sorry....just a little 'tad' sorry....and just for being a 'pleb'

R1Geezer

Well I work imn IT for a living and chuck's initial statement is one from someone who hasn't a clue,. He may be an enthusiatic amateur but he hasn't got a scooby about how computers do arithmetic.

R1Geezer

OK 11 and 56/1000ths, input was 3 DP's just a matter of programming.

craft1948

pmsl.........

ummmm

How hard was that R1? To be nice without calling me names xxxxxxxxx

bibblebub

The question on this thread is so idiotic (just who is abandoning fractions? - name names) that I can only think that the local pubs must have chucked out very early.

bednobs

actually, i have just started a maths course where (embarrassingly) i had to be taught how to use these new fangled calculators which display things in fractions!

ChuckFickens

"He may be an enthusiatic (sic) amateur"

IT manager as it happens, though I'll admit the exact details of how computers do arithmetic is not my speciality but I don't see many network design, mail server, DNS server and so on questions on here.

Anyhow, my initial answer was off the cuff so to speak and I more meant that fractions don't fit well with using computers in the manner that everything is generally more orientated towards decimal on the user side of things, not the internal workings.