How do we go from a fraction to a decimal? We're so glad you asked.
Like we can see above, eight twenty-fifths is equivalent to thirty-two hundredths. All we did was multiply the top and bottom of the fraction by 4.
8 × 4 = 32
25 × 4 = 100
And hey, thirty-two hundredths can be written as 0.32, a decimal.
Unfortunately, not all fractions are that easy. Most can't be rewritten with a denominator of 10, or 100, or 1000. We need a more foolproof way of converting every fraction. Lucky for us, there is one: all we need to do is divide the numerator by the denominator!
Our numerator was 8, so we divide that by the denominator, 25.
Be Careful: always divide the denominator into the numerator and not the other way around. In other words, the numerator always goes inside the division box.
Converting Fractions to Decimals Example 1
Convert |
to a decimal.
Converting Fractions to Decimals Example 2
Convert |
to a decimal.
Converting Fractions to Decimals Example 3
Use long division to prove that the following equation is true.
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as a decimal.
as a decimal.
as a decimal.
as a decimal.