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[-] porkins@sh.itjust.works 53 points 1 year ago

Because it’s not .333, it’s .333… or 1/3 and it’s not .999, it’s .999…, which is the same as 1 🫠. Primes and fractions are weird.

[-] areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 81 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The fun thing is this is just a consequence of how we write numbers. If you used base 12 1/3 would be 0.4. Obviously 0.4 + 0.4 + 0.4 in base 12 is 1.0, so 3 x 0.4 = 1

What's even more fun is that things like 1/5 or 1/10 are recurring decimals in base 12.

[-] Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works 44 points 1 year ago

You know, this explanation makes it make sense to me a lot more than most of the others I've ever gotten.

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this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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