• Eh-I@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    It’s a fraction. So like if you had one apple to split between four people then we would all get one quarter of a whole apple.

    1 apple per 4 people = 1 per 4 = 1/4 = 0.25

    I don’t know that I would say that fractions are more or less precise than decimal.

    • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Precision has nothing to do with the unit system. Or notation of fractions.

      0,001m is as precise as 1mm

      1/1000m is as precise as 1mm

      In SI you don’t even have prefixes, you use scientific notation with base units. You don’t say neither 1mm nor 0,001m. You say 1x10-3. Which is exactly the same as the other magnitudes of this comment.

      If you want precision in imperial, you could as easily say 0,00000000001 inch. It would be as precise as 0,000000000255 mm, or whatever the conversion is.

      • Eh-I@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Yeah, but let’s see if they get the apple example before we throw all that at them.

    • entwine@programming.dev
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      3 days ago

      I think “decimal” is a loaner word in European, as it’s yet another thing America invented. Don’t laugh at them for being slow on the uptake.