Quandaries and Queries
 

 

I am having trouble with a question. 7,473,000,000 divided by 52000. Our calculater gets 147311.5385. I come up with 143711.53846, and then the number starts to repeat itself

Can you help me with a old school long division.

 

 

Hi,

You are quite correct,

 7,473,000,000/52000 = 143711.53846153846153864...

where the 153846 repeats.

Your calculator rounds to 11 significant digits. My calculator gets 143711.5384615385. A few more digits but still not the correct answer. Calculators have built into them a maximum number of digits they can display. For calculations that yield repeating digits after the decimal, a calculator will never give the correct answer. For a simpler example try 1/6.

Penny

 
 

Go to Math Central