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Post by general313 on May 10, 2020 16:19:08 GMT
It doesn't matter whether they studied calculus, and I very much doubt that anyone can find a mathematician who hasn't. Since you mentioned the decimal representation of 1/7, it should be pointed out that that representation is exact. Hence one can use the equation 1/7 = 0.142857142857... One does not need to use the approximately equal symbol here (≈). First of all no, many decimal representations are not exact, including that of 1/7. Secondly. even if they were exact, no one has that many digits. Most Calculators do not store more than 15 digits, less expensive ones only 8 digits. Microsoft Excel only uses as many as 15 digits. I wrote a program that can do 100 digit calculations, but I knew full well at the time it is only good for philosophical investigations into the properties of numbers. There is no real world measurement that precise. You are talking about even larger numbers of digits. No matter how small you write you can't get that many digits on a ream of paper. Even Watson the supercomputer can't work with that many digits. It then becomes irrelevant what that many digits might "equal," does it not? In any actual use of mathematics for real world computations it is not a matter of exactitude, it is a matter of necessary precision, for example ±10 -8 is beyond anything you will likely need. You may of course use any notation you wish as long as you and your associates understand each other. It is exact. If is not, then tell me how much in error the infinite sum is from the fraction. Mathematicians do have that many digits; calculator precision is beside the point.
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