coerce

If a numeric is the same type as num, returns an array containing numeric and num. Otherwise, returns an array with both a numeric and num represented as Float objects.

This coercion mechanism is used by Ruby to handle mixed-type numeric operations: it is intended to find a compatible common type between the two operands of the operator.

1.coerce(2.5)   #=> [2.5, 1.0]
1.2.coerce(3)   #=> [3.0, 1.2]
1.coerce(2)     #=> [2, 1]