fractional parts

[Terry]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2000, you wrote:
> On Tue, 18 Jul 2000, Terry wrote:
> > I have a question for the gnucash developer community regarding commodities,
> > stocks etc. and how they are priced, traded, listed, whatever.
> > 
> > I have always seen such things listed/priced/traded as single fractions, i.e., 
> > 
> > a single stock would be "listed" as :  234 1/8
> > 
> > or  234 3/8
> > 
> > or sugar sells for 3 for 1.00 or 1 for 1/3 USD (price,  not what I pay)
> > 
> > some of the common "fractions" I have seen are:
> > 
> > 1/2, x/4, x/3, x/8, x/16, x/32
> > 
> > occasionally I have seen 5 for 1 USD or 1 for 1/5 USD (price, and what I pay)
> > 
> > 10 for 1 USD (or 1 for 1/10 USD) is common
> > 
> > as is 1/6 or 1/12 ( 6 for 1 USD or 12 for 1 USD).
> > 
> > What I have never seen is the following (and I am having great difficulty in
> > trying to express this since I have never seen this in practice):
> > 
> > stock listed at 234 3/8 1/32 (i.e., 234 USD + 3/8 USD + 1/32 USD). 
> > 
> > What I am trying to express here is the use of more than one fraction to
> > express the units desired. The above could equivalently be expressed as:
> > 
> > 234 13/32
> > 
> > but what about something like:
> > 
> > 234 3/8 1/5 == 234 + 3/8 + 1/5 USD
> > 
> > That could equivalently be expressed as 
> > 
> > 234 23/40
> > 
> > But that's not my point - I have never seen the use of more than one fraction.
> > 
> > My question - has anybody???? Would there be a reason for using more than one ?
> > 
> > This is not a trivial question - there is a valid reason for asking. The fact
> > that I have not seen this in practice and wouldn't make sense to me, does not
> > mean that it isn't used someplace. 
> > 
> > An ancillary question - what are the common fractions used. I have listed a few
> > above:
> > 
> > powers of 2: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 never seen anything higher
> Bonds are sometimes expressed in 1/256 of 1/100
> 98 11/256 is a little less than face value.
> 
> > powers of 10: 1/10, 1/100, 1/1000,  never seen anything higher
> > 
> > powers of 5: 1/5 never seen 1/25, etc.
> > 
> > powers of 6: 1/6 never seen 1/36, etc.
> > 
> > powers of 12: 1/12 never seen 1/144 etc.
> per gross is not uncommon
> 
> > powers of 3: 1/3 never seen 1/9 etc.
> > 
> > That leaves powers of 7, 11, 13, and more primes.
> > 
> > Can anybody contribute other possible common fractions which are used in the
> > world today?
> > 
> > Again, I do have a valid reason for asking and which relates to gnucash
> > directly.
> I fail to see how this relates to gnucash. Just because there are a limited
> number of fractions in common usage (I would guess that is caused by the human
> inability to readily compare fractions with unlike denominators) I see nothing
> to be gained by attempting to enumerate those denominators.

Yes oh omnipotent, un-failing, all-seeing, all-knowing one - since you have
decreed, we shall all bow in obedience now that you have made us see the
unworthiness of our ways

Sorry - I really, really could not stop myself :-)

> 
> When we get to the allocation of cost, the denominators become more complex
> because they can be any quantity that you can have in inventory.