repeating decimals
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg29200] repeating decimals
- From: Tom De Vries <tdevries at shop.westworld.ca>
- Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 17:56:09 -0400 (EDT)
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
Hello! I am working on a simple notebook to illustrate repeating and terminating decimals for a junior high math class. I know the topic of representing decimal numbers has been discussed here before, but I am still a bit confused.... On my Mac $Version "4.0 for Power Macintosh (July 20, 1999)" Why does N[1/2, 10] give me 0.5 and why does N[1/2, 20] give me 0.50000000000000000000 why does NumberForm[7/13. , 15, DigitBlock -> 6, NumberSeparator -> " "] give me 0.538461 538461 539 and why does NumberForm[7/13. , 30, DigitBlock -> 6, NumberSeparator -> " "] 0.538461 538461 5385 It seems to me that the number of digits I am asking for is not related to what I actually get. Is there a way to ask Mathematica to represent the decimal approximation that would be consistent? Thanks for any help you might provide Sincerely, Tom De Vries