Finite Math Examples

$1 - \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{16} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1

Find the common denominator.

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Step 1.1

Write $1$ as a fraction with denominator $1$ .

$\frac{1}{1} - \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{16} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.2

Multiply $\frac{1}{1}$ by $\frac{1024}{1024}$ .

$\frac{1}{1} \cdot \frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{16} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.3

Multiply $\frac{1}{1}$ by $\frac{1024}{1024}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{16} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.4

Multiply $\frac{1}{4}$ by $\frac{256}{256}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - (\frac{1}{4} \cdot \frac{256}{256}) + \frac{1}{16} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.5

Multiply $\frac{1}{4}$ by $\frac{256}{256}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{4 \cdot 256} + \frac{1}{16} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.6

Multiply $\frac{1}{16}$ by $\frac{64}{64}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{4 \cdot 256} + \frac{1}{16} \cdot \frac{64}{64} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.7

Multiply $\frac{1}{16}$ by $\frac{64}{64}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{4 \cdot 256} + \frac{64}{16 \cdot 64} - \frac{1}{64} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.8

Multiply $\frac{1}{64}$ by $\frac{16}{16}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{4 \cdot 256} + \frac{64}{16 \cdot 64} - (\frac{1}{64} \cdot \frac{16}{16}) + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.9

Multiply $\frac{1}{64}$ by $\frac{16}{16}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{4 \cdot 256} + \frac{64}{16 \cdot 64} - \frac{16}{64 \cdot 16} + \frac{1}{256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.10

Multiply $\frac{1}{256}$ by $\frac{4}{4}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{4 \cdot 256} + \frac{64}{16 \cdot 64} - \frac{16}{64 \cdot 16} + \frac{1}{256} \cdot \frac{4}{4} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.11

Multiply $\frac{1}{256}$ by $\frac{4}{4}$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{4 \cdot 256} + \frac{64}{16 \cdot 64} - \frac{16}{64 \cdot 16} + \frac{4}{256 \cdot 4} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.12

Multiply $4$ by $256$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{1024} + \frac{64}{16 \cdot 64} - \frac{16}{64 \cdot 16} + \frac{4}{256 \cdot 4} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.13

Multiply $16$ by $64$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{1024} + \frac{64}{1024} - \frac{16}{64 \cdot 16} + \frac{4}{256 \cdot 4} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.14

Reorder the factors of $64 \cdot 16$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{1024} + \frac{64}{1024} - \frac{16}{16 \cdot 64} + \frac{4}{256 \cdot 4} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.15

Multiply $16$ by $64$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{1024} + \frac{64}{1024} - \frac{16}{1024} + \frac{4}{256 \cdot 4} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.16

Reorder the factors of $256 \cdot 4$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{1024} + \frac{64}{1024} - \frac{16}{1024} + \frac{4}{4 \cdot 256} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 1.17

Multiply $4$ by $256$ .

$\frac{1024}{1024} - \frac{256}{1024} + \frac{64}{1024} - \frac{16}{1024} + \frac{4}{1024} - \frac{1}{1024}$

Step 2

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$\frac{1024 - 256 + 64 - 16 + 4 - 1}{1024}$

Step 3

Simplify by adding and subtracting.

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Step 3.1

Subtract $256$ from $1024$ .

$\frac{768 + 64 - 16 + 4 - 1}{1024}$

Step 3.2

Add $768$ and $64$ .

$\frac{832 - 16 + 4 - 1}{1024}$

Step 3.3

Subtract $16$ from $832$ .

$\frac{816 + 4 - 1}{1024}$

Step 3.4

Add $816$ and $4$ .

$\frac{820 - 1}{1024}$

Step 3.5

Subtract $1$ from $820$ .

$\frac{819}{1024}$

Step 4

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$\frac{819}{1024}$

Decimal Form:

$0.79980468 \dots$