Decimal Fraction

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Decimal Fraction

A decimal fraction is a numeral that uses the base 10 numeration system to represent numbers that are not necessarily whole numbers. The numeral includes a dot, called the decimal point.

Digits to the right of the decimal point extend the place values to tenths, hundredths, thousandths, and so forth. For example, the decimal fraction 5.403 means 5 ones, 4 tenths, 0 hundredths, and 3 thousandths. The same number can also be represented by a common fraction, such as 5, 403/1, 000, or as a mixed number, 5 403/1000.

See also Fraction, common.

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