I was using a calculator one day, and punched in a number, then punched "divided by", then punched another number and got back .01234567890123456789... I thought the calculator was wacko, but the calculator was right.

If the two numbers I put in were relatively prime, what were they?

By way of infinite geometric series it can be established that:
.01234567890123456789 = A/B, where A = 123456789 and B =9999999999 

Dividing each of 123456789 and 99999999999 by 9, we reduce the fraction  A/B to its lowest terms, which is  13717421/ 1111111111 

Thus, the two numbers were 13717421 and 1111111111
 

 

Edited on September 21, 2007, 6:16 am

Posted by K Sengupta on 2007-09-21 06:13:59