Need help! Is there a quick technique?

I encountered the following question. You can brute-force the calculation, but I'm curious to know if there is an easy rule or intuition that I'm missing....

Which is bigger,

100000001/100000002 or
200000001/200000002

Note by Brad Carson
3 years, 8 months ago

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1 vote

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Comments

They are both slightly less than 1. Which is closer to 1?

Jon Haussmann - 3 years, 8 months ago

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That's the question!

Brad Carson - 3 years, 8 months ago

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If we want to see which is closer to 1, we should compare 1100000001100000002and1200000001200000002.1 - \frac{100000001}{100000002} \quad \text{and} \quad 1 - \frac{200000001}{200000002}. What does that give you?

Jon Haussmann - 3 years, 8 months ago

Hint: If a>b>0a > b> 0 , then 1a<1b \dfrac1a < \dfrac 1b, and also 11a>11b 1 - \dfrac1a > 1 - \dfrac 1b.

Pi Han Goh - 3 years, 8 months ago
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