Is there a name for numbers between 0 and 1?

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In the world of competitive esports, players often discuss kill/death ratios, where higher is better. My friends sometimes call a poor ratio, like 1 kill to 4 deaths, as 'negative', but that's not quite right. Is there another word to describe values between 0.0 and 1.0, vs values larger than 1.0?

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5 Answers

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Since you seem to be primarily interested in rational numbers, a good candidate is proper fraction.

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It can be called the Unit Interval

In mathematics, the unit interval is the closed interval [0,1], that is, the set of all real numbers that are greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1. It is often denoted I (capital letter I). In addition to its role in real analysis, the unit interval is used to study homotopy theory in the field of topology.

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Your friends aren't wrong for describing a 1kill, 4 deaths score as negative. They are simply using a different metric, kills-deaths, instead of what you're using, kills/deaths. Both are useful in different scenarios and you should aim to go positive with an improper fraction for a kdr.

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A simple mathematical way of describing this is by using the log function.

A number between 0 and 1 has a negative log and a number larger than 1 has a positive log...

So "negative log" and "positive log" could be a way of referring to this.

Note that with this notation, your kills/deaths ration becomes $$ \log (\frac{kills}{deaths})=\log(kills)- \log (deaths) $$

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I'm not sure that I would use a term from mathematics. You might consider using a term like "subpar", where "par" would be $1:1$, as in "One kill to four deaths is a subpar kill/death ratio."

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