This is a great place for us to look at a few problems with the representation of fractions.
Precision is the amount of space allocated for storing numbers.
Measured in bits.
This is both hardware and software dependent.
The hardware has a fixed size.
But we can write new software to take the place of hardware.
* precision
Normally means a single word is used to store the number
double precision: - two words
quad precision four words
So let's try something in 8 bit precision
.1 in base 10
Convert this to base 2
.1 x 2 = .2 record .0
.2 x 2 = .4 record .00
.4 x 2 = .8 record .000
.8 x 2 = 1.6 record .0001
.6 x 2 = 1.2 record .00011
.2 x 2 = .4 record .000110
note this will repeat
.10 = .00011001100112
Just like $1/3 = .\overline{3}$
So in 8 bits .1 = $.00011001_2$
This has a decimal value of 0.09765625
But what about the $.000000001\overline{0011}$?
This is what we call roundoff error.
Note there is a number "before" $.00011001_2$
Is this true in general of rational numbers?
What would this number be?
$.00011000_2 = .09375$
Why?
What would the next number be?
$.00011010_2 = 0.1015625$
.1 falls into the gap between $.00011001_2$ and $.00011010_2$
The gap represents an interval of numbers that are "missing" in a representation.
This changes based on the place we are looking at in the number line.