What is "fraction"

Angle \An"gle\ ([a^][ng]"g'l), n. [F. angle, L. angulus angle, corner; akin to uncus hook, Gr. 'agky`los bent, crooked, angular, 'a`gkos a bend or hollow, AS. angel hook, fish-hook, G. angel, and F. anchor.]

1. The inclosed space near the point where two lines meet; a corner; a nook.

   Into the utmost angle of the world.
   --Spenser.

   To search the tenderest angles of the heart.
   --Milton.

2. (Geom.)

   1. The figure made by. two lines which meet.

   2. The difference of direction of two lines. In the lines meet, the point of meeting is the vertex of the angle.

3. A projecting or sharp corner; an angular fragment.

   Though but an angle reached him of the stone.
   --Dryden.

4. (Astrol.) A name given to four of the twelve astrological ``houses.'' [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

5. [AS. angel.] A fishhook; tackle for catching fish, consisting of a line, hook, and bait, with or without a rod. Give me mine angle: we 'll to the river there. --Shak. A fisher next his trembling angle bears. --Pope. Acute angle, one less than a right angle, or less than 90[deg]. Adjacent or Contiguous angles, such as have one leg common to both angles. Alternate angles. See Alternate. Angle bar.

   1. (Carp.) An upright bar at the angle where two faces of a polygonal or bay window meet.
      --Knight.

   2. (Mach.) Same as Angle iron.

      Angle bead (Arch.), a bead worked on or fixed to the angle of any architectural work, esp. for protecting an angle of a wall.

      Angle brace, Angle tie (Carp.), a brace across an interior angle of a wooden frame, forming the hypothenuse and securing the two side pieces together.
      --Knight.

      Angle iron (Mach.), a rolled bar or plate of iron having one or more angles, used for forming the corners, or connecting or sustaining the sides of an iron structure to which it is riveted.

      Angle leaf (Arch.), a detail in the form of a leaf, more or less conventionalized, used to decorate and sometimes to strengthen an angle.

      Angle meter, an instrument for measuring angles, esp. for ascertaining the dip of strata.

      Angle shaft (Arch.), an enriched angle bead, often having a capital or base, or both.

      Curvilineal angle, one formed by two curved lines.

      External angles, angles formed by the sides of any right-lined figure, when the sides are produced or lengthened.

      Facial angle. See under Facial.

      Internal angles, those which are within any right-lined figure.

      Mixtilineal angle, one formed by a right line with a curved line.

      Oblique angle, one acute or obtuse, in opposition to a right angle.

      Obtuse angle, one greater than a right angle, or more than 90[deg].

      Optic angle. See under Optic.

      Rectilineal or Right-lined angle, one formed by two right lines.

      Right angle, one formed by a right line falling on another perpendicularly, or an angle of 90[deg] (measured by a quarter circle).

      Solid angle, the figure formed by the meeting of three or more plane angles at one point.

      Spherical angle, one made by the meeting of two arcs of great circles, which mutually cut one another on the surface of a globe or sphere.

      Visual angle, the angle formed by two rays of light, or two straight lines drawn from the extreme points of an object to the center of the eye.

      For Angles of commutation, draught, incidence, reflection, refraction, position, repose, fraction, see Commutation, Draught, Incidence, Reflection, Refraction, etc.

late 14c., originally in the mathematical sense, from Anglo-French fraccioun (Old French fraccion, "a breaking," 12c., Modern French fraction) and directly from Late Latin fractionem (nominative fractio) "a breaking," especially into pieces, in Medieval Latin "a fragment, portion," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin frangere "to break (something) in pieces, shatter, fracture," from Proto-Italic *frang-, from a nasalized variant of PIE root *bhreg- "to break" (cognates: Sanskrit (giri)-bhraj "breaking-forth (out of the mountains);" Gothic brikan, Old English brecan "to break;" Lithuanian brasketi "crash, crack;" Old Irish braigim "break wind"). Meaning "a breaking or dividing" in English is from early 15c.; sense of "broken off piece, fragment," is from c.1600.

n. 1 A part of a whole, especially a comparatively small part. 2 A ratio of two numbers, the numerator and the denominator, usually written one above the other and separated by a horizontal bar. 3 (context chemistry English) A component of a mixture, separated by fractionation. 4 In a eucharistic service, the breaking of the host#Noun_3. 5 A small amount. vb. To divide or break into fractions.

1. n. a component of a mixture that has been separated by a fractional process

2. a small part or item forming a piece of a whole

3. the quotient of two rational numbers

4. v. perform a division; "Can you divide 49 by seven?" [syn: divide] [ant: multiply]

The Fraction is the ceremonial act of breaking the consecrated bread during the Eucharistic rite in some Christian denominations.

Fraction was a six-issue comic from DC Comics in 2004, in which four men in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania steal the components of a powerful battle suit. The series was written by David Tischman, with art by Timothy Green II and covers by Tomer Hanuka.

In common usage a fraction is any part of a unit.

Fraction may also mean:

• Fraction (mathematics), one or more equal parts of something, e.g. three out of four equal quarters, written as
• Algebraic fraction, an indicated division in which the divisor, or both dividend and divisor, are algebraic expressions

:* Irrational fraction, a type of algebraic fraction

• Fraction (chemistry), a quantity of a substance collected by the separation process known as fractionation
• Fraction (religion), the ceremonial act of breaking the bread during Christian Communion
• Fraction (politics), a subgroup within a parliamentary party
• Fraction (comics), a short-lived comic about the theft of a power suit
• "Fractional" may refer to property timeshare
• Matt Fraction, a comic book author
• Promazine, an anti psychotic medication known by the trade name Fraction
• Fraction Fever, a 1983 educational video game

A fraction (from Latin , "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight-fifths, three-quarters. A common, vulgar, or simple fraction (examples: $\tfrac{1}{2}$ and 17/3) consists of an integer numerator displayed above a line (or before a slash), and a non-zero integer denominator, displayed below (or after) that line. Numerators and denominators are also used in fractions that are not common, including compound fractions, complex fractions, and mixed numerals.

The numerator represents a number of equal parts, and the denominator, which cannot be zero, indicates how many of those parts make up a unit or a whole. For example, in the fraction 3/4, the numerator, 3, tells us that the fraction represents 3 equal parts, and the denominator, 4, tells us that 4 parts make up a whole. The picture to the right illustrates $\tfrac{3}{4}$ or ¾ of a cake.

Fractional numbers can also be written without using explicit numerators or denominators, by using decimals, percent signs, or negative exponents (as in 0.01, 1%, and 10 respectively, all of which are equivalent to 1/100). An integer such as the number 7 can be thought of as having an implicit denominator of one: 7 equals 7/1.

Other uses for fractions are to represent ratios and to represent division. Thus the fraction ¾ is also used to represent the ratio 3:4 (the ratio of the part to the whole) and the division 3 ÷ 4 (three divided by four).

In mathematics the set of all numbers that can be expressed in the form a/b, where a and b are integers and b is not zero, is called the set of rational numbers and is represented by the symbol Q, which stands for quotient. The test for a number being a rational number is that it can be written in that form (i.e., as a common fraction). However, the word fraction is also used to describe mathematical expressions that are not rational numbers, for example algebraic fractions (quotients of algebraic expressions), and expressions that contain irrational numbers, such as √2/2 (see square root of 2) and π/4 (see proof that π is irrational).

A fraction in chemistry is a quantity collected from a sample or batch of a substance in a fractionating separation process. In such a process, a mixture is separated into fractions, which have compositions that vary according to a gradient. A fraction can be defined as a group of chemicals that have similar boiling points. A common fractionating process is fractional distillation. It is used to produce liquor and various hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline, kerosene and diesel.

A fraction is the product of a fractionating column. A vast chamber designed to separate different substances based on their boiling point, e.g. crude oil.

Fraction could also refer to a description of the composition of a mixture, e.g. mass fraction or mole fraction.

For a simpler definition a fraction is a part of the fractionating column where a compound with one boiling point can be separated from other compounds with different boiling points.

Category:Separation processes