$variable1 = '';
    print OUT1 "$first[0]\t$first[1]\t$first[2]\t";
    for my $index1 (3..8)
    {
      my $ratio1 = sprintf( "%.4f%s", $numerator/$denominator,"\t");
      #print OUT1 "$ratio1";
      $variable1 = "$ratio1"; # problem with this line  
    } 
   
    print OUT1 "$variable1";  # print to textfile
    print OUT1 "\n";