Why does searching "0.693" bring me to "0.0.2.181"? [duplicate]

While working on math, I encountered a number and wondered if it had any significance. So, in the browser search bar I entered it ("0.693"). I got redirected to the IP address 0.0.2.181, which resulted in an "unreachable" error message.

Why did I get redirected to this IP address?

Why did I get redirected to this IP address?

The browser address bar sees a . and thinks it is an IP address.

This gets passed to Windows to do a DNS lookup:

> nslookup 0.693
Server:  UnKnown
Address:  192.168.42.129

Name:    0.693
Address:  0.0.2.181

Note:

693 = 256 * 2 + 181

So 0.693 gets translated to 0.0.2.181.

How can I prevent this conversion?

Prefix the value with '.

The reason 0.693 becomes 0.0.2.181 has been explained by DavidPostill. In short, the string looks like a valid IP address

Now to search for any terms use Ctrl+K (works in Firefox and Chrome) or Ctrl+E (only in Firefox). That'll trigger a search instead of letting the browser to guess if that's a valid address or not