Math Is Fun Forum

Abbey78336

Member

Registered: 2022-08-15

Posts: 37

Factors of decimals

Give factors of 8.81632653061

Bob

Administrator

Registered: 2010-06-20

Posts: 10,619

Re: Factors of decimals

?

To have factors, a number needs to be a whole number.

Bob

---

Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob

Jai Ganesh

Administrator

Registered: 2005-06-28

Posts: 48,384

Re: Factors of decimals

Hi Abbey78336,

In number theory, integer factorization is the decomposition of a composite number into a product of smaller integers. If these factors are further restricted to prime numbers, the process is called prime factorization.

Question: Do factors have to be whole numbers?

Answer

Factors: In math, factors are numbers that divide another number evenly, meaning that there is no remainder when dividing. Factors of a number can be multiplied together to make that number. For example, 3 and 5 are factors of 15; 3 x 5 = 15, 15/3 = 5, 15/5 = 3.

Answer and Explanation:

Factors must be whole numbers, meaning factors cannot be fractions. However, factors do not have to be "whole numbers" based on the definition of a whole number. By definition, whole numbers are the positive integers (and zero) that are used to count (0, 1, 2, 3...). Factors are numbers that are multiplied together to make another number. Factors can be positive or negative. Since negative numbers are not considered "whole numbers," factors do not have to be "whole numbers" by the mathematical definition of a whole number.

Details

The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) 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 (also often just decimal or, less correctly, decimal number), refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal numeral system. Decimals may sometimes be identified by a decimal separator (usually "." or "," as in 25.9703 or 3,1415). Decimal may also refer specifically to the digits after the decimal separator, such as in "3.14 is the approximation of pi to two decimals". Zero-digits after a decimal separator serve the purpose of signifying the precision of a value.

The numbers that may be represented in the decimal system are the decimal fractions. That is, fractions of the form a/10n, where a is an integer, and n is a non-negative 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. In this context, the decimal numerals with a finite number of non-zero digits after the decimal separator are sometimes called terminating decimals. A repeating decimal is an infinite decimal that, after some place, repeats indefinitely the same sequence of digits (e.g., 5.123144144144144... = 5.123144). An infinite decimal represents a rational number, the quotient of two integers, if and only if it is a repeating decimal or has a finite number of non-zero digits.

---

It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.

Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.

zetafunc

Moderator

Registered: 2014-05-21

Posts: 2,436

Website

Re: Factors of decimals

Give factors of 8.81632653061

8.8132653061 is roughly 432/49, which is the same as the coefficient of the middle term that you wrote in your problem here:

2x^2 + (432/49x) = 3

Exactly what have you been asked to do?