Key learning points

1. There is always a choice regarding how you represent a value.
2. You need to consider the most suitable way for the situation.
3. Rounding reduces accuracy so a rounded answer is not always useful.
4. There are agreed forms: one operation remaining and the result of the operation would produce a non-terminating decimal.
5. Surd form is one such acceptable way.

Keywords

• Recurring decimal - A recurring decimal is one that has a digit or sequence of digits that repeat endlessly.

• Terminating decimal - A terminating decimal is one that has a finite number of digits after the decimal point.

• Rational number - A rational number is one that can be written in the form a/b where a and b are integers and b is not equal to 0.

• Irrational number - An irrational number is one that cannot be written in the form a/b where a and b are integers and b is not equal to 0.

Common misconception