This blog post serves as an exercise and solution to the following question:
$latex \frac{1}{7}=0.\overline{142857}$
In plain English: is the fraction $latex \frac{1}{7}$ a repeated decimal?
Recurring pattern
How can we tackle such a problem? First note that we have to deal with a recurring pattern: a pattern that refers to itself. One useful concept to model such problems is the concept of sequences. We can model the repeated decimal by the following sequence:
$latex 0.\overline{142857}=x_n$
$latex x_{n+1}=0.142857 + 10^{-6} x_n$
With $latex x_0=0$
How does that work? How does this sequence approximate the repeated fraction? First, take a look at $latex x_1$. $latex x_1=0.142857+10^{-6}\cdot x_0=0.142857$. Now, take a look at the following item in the sequence: $latex x_2=0.142857+10^{-6}\cdot x_1=0.142857142857$. So, it concatenates “142857” and the recurring pattern constructed so far. By that property we know that the sequence $latex x_n$ equals the repeated decimal if $latex n$ approaches $latex \infty$.
The proof
We would like to proof that $latex \frac{1}{7}=0.\overline{142857}$. This is equal to proving that $latex 1=7 \cdot 0.\overline{142857}$. This equals $latex 1 – 7 \cdot 0.\overline{142857}$ and this is equal to proving that $latex 1 – 7 \cdot \lim\limits_{n \rightarrow \infty} x_n = 0$.
Another sequence
Lets introduce another sequence:
$latex a_n = 1 – 7 \cdot x_n$
Notice that the statement we need to proof is the same as the following:
$latex 1 – 7 \cdot \lim\limits_{n \rightarrow \infty} x_n = 0 \iff\lim\limits_{n \rightarrow \infty} a_n $
Now notice that:
$latex a_{n+1}=1-7 \cdot x_{n+1}=1 – 7 \cdot (x_n \cdot 10^{-6} + 0.142857)$
$latex a_{n+1}=1 – 10^{-6} \cdot 7 \cdot x_n – 0.999999$
$latex a_{n+1}=0.000001 – 10^{-6}\cdot 7 \cdot x_n$
$latex a_{n+1}=10^{-6}-10^{-6} \cdot 7 \cdot x_n$
$latex a_{n+1}=10^{-6}\cdot(1 – 7 \cdot x_n)$
Thus:
$latex a_{n+1}=10^{-6} \cdot a_n$
And thus we know that:
$latex a_{n+k}=10^{-6k} \cdot a_n$
Thus:
$latex a_k=10^{-6k} \cdot a_0$
From this, we get that:
$latex \lim\limits_{k \rightarrow \infty} a_k = a_0 \cdot \lim\limits_{k \rightarrow \infty} 10^{-6k} = 0$
And from this we can deduce the earlier statement, thus:
$latex \frac{1}{7}=0.\overline{142857}$
Thus, $latex \frac{1}{7}$ is indeed equal to the repeated fraction $latex 0.\overline{142857}$! If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to post them below!