what is a decimal number

A decimal number is a number that consists of a whole number part and a fractional part separated by a decimal point. It is a number that lies between integers and represents numerical value for quantities that are whole plus some fraction. Decimals may sometimes be identified by a decimal separator, usually "." or "," as in 25.9703 or 3,1415. The digits after the decimal separator signify the precision of a value. Decimal numbers can be classified into two categories based on the number of digits after the decimal point: like decimals and unlike decimals. Like decimals are two decimal numbers that have the same number of digits after the decimal point. Decimal fractions are fractions of the form a/10n, where a is an integer, and n is a non-negative integer. Decimal fractions also result from the addition of an integer and a fractional part; the resulting sum sometimes is called a fractional number. The decimal system has been extended to infinite decimals for representing any real number, by using an infinite sequence of digits after the decimal separator.