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Decimal arithmetic


The decimal numeral system (also called base-ten positional numeral system, and occasionally called denary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. The way of denoting numbers in the decimal system is often referred to as Decimal notation.

A decimal numeral, or just decimal, or, improperly decimal number, refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal system, which contains a decimal separator (for example 10.00 or 3.14159). Sometimes these terms are used for the any numeral in the decimal system. A decimal may also refer to any digit after the decimal separator, such as in "3.14 is the approximation of π to two decimals".

The numbers that may be represented in the decimal system are the decimal fractions, that is the fractions of the form a/10n, where a is an integer, and n is a nonnegative integer.

The decimal system has been extended to infinite decimals, for representing any real number, by using an infinite sequence of digits after the decimal separator (see Decimal representation). In this context, the usual decimals are sometimes called terminating decimals. A repeating decimal, is an infinite decimal, that, after some place repeats indefinitely the same sequence of digits (for example 5.123144144144144... = 5.123144). An infinite decimal represents a rational number if and only if it is a repeating decimal or is a finite decimal.


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