( May 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. 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. A repeating decimal is an infinite decimal that, after some place, repeats indefinitely the same sequence of digits (e.g., 5.123144144144144. In this context, the usual decimals, with a finite number of non-zero digits after the decimal separator, are sometimes called terminating decimals.

However, 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). Generally, a decimal has only a finite number of digits after the decimal seperator. Decimal fractions also result from the addition of an integer and a fractional part the resulting sum sometimes is called a fractional number. That is, fractions of the form a/10 n, where a is an integer, and n is a non-negative integer. The numbers that may be represented in the decimal system are the decimal fractions. Zero-digits after a decimal separator serve the purpose of signifying the precision of a value. Decimal may also refer specifically to the digits after the decimal separator, such as in ' 3.14 is the approximation of π to two decimals'. Decimals may sometimes be identified by a decimal separator (usually '.' or ',' as in 25.9703 or 3,1415). Ī decimal numeral (also often just decimal or, less correctly, decimal number), refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal numeral system. The way of denoting numbers in the decimal system is often referred to as decimal notation. It is the extension to non-integer numbers ( decimal fractions) of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary / ˈ d iː n ər i/ or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers.

For other uses, see Decimal (disambiguation).

1 3 8 as a decimal