Fractions and decimals are simply two ways of representing numbers less than one. Since any number less than one can be represented by a fraction or decimal, specific mathematical equations will help you find the decimal equivalent of a fraction and vice versa. How to convert a fraction to a decimal? Find the answer in the below article!
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Fractions and decimals
What is a fraction?
A fraction is a representation of two rational numbers as a ratio of two integers, where the upper integer is called the numerator and the lower integer is called the denominator. A mandatory condition is that the denominator must be different from 0.
A fraction will be denoted a/b where we have: a is the numerator, b is the denominator, and a and b are integers where b is nonzero.
What is decimal?
Decimals are fractions with a numerator and a denominator. Where the denominator of the decimal is the numbers of form 10, 100, 1000,… The denominator is the product of the 10s. Decimals are written in the form: 0.1; 0.01; 0.001…
The decimal structure consists of two parts, the integer part, and the decimal part, separated by commas. The numbers before the comma are the integer part, and the number after the comma is the decimal part.
Components of a fraction and what they represent
Fractions consist of three parts: the numerator is the number at the top of the fraction, the slash between the numbers, and the denominator is the number below.
The denominator represents the total number of equal parts. For example, a pizza may be split into 8 pieces. The denominator of the pizza will be “8”. If you cut the same pizza into 12 pieces, the denominator would be 12. Either way, they all represent the same sum, just cut out different portions.
The numerator represents a part, or several parts, of the sum. A slice of pizza will be represented by the numerator “1”. Four pieces will be represented by the numerator “4”.
The value that a decimal represents
Decimals do not use slashes to indicate what part of the sum they represent. Instead, the decimal point to the left of the numbers indicates that the numbers are less than one. With a decimal, the sum is treated as 10, 100, 1000, and so on, depending on the number of spaces to the right of the decimal.
Decimals are also often read in the same way as fractions. For example, 0.05 is often read aloud as “five percent,” like 5/100. Fractions are represented by numbers to the right of the decimal point.
Relationship between fractions and decimals
Fractions and decimals are just different representations of any value less than one. The fact that the two are used for many of the same things means that you will have to switch frequently to add, subtract, or compare them.
Convert fractions to decimals using division
Treat fractions as a math problem
The easiest way to convert a fraction to a decimal is to treat the fraction as a division operation, with the number above divided by the number below. For example, the fraction 2/3 can also be written as 2 divided by 3.
Divide the numerator of the fraction by the denominator of the fraction
You can do mental calculations in your head, especially if the numerator and denominator are multiples of each other, or with a calculator if it’s a large division. A simple way to do this is to just put the divisor (e.g. 2 is the divisor in a 1 by 2 division) below and the divisor (1 is the divisor in a 1 by 2 division) above. . So 1 divided by 2 would be half (1/2).
Check the result
Multiply the corresponding decimal you get by the denominator of the original fraction. You will get the result as the numerator of that fraction.
Convert fractions whose denominator is a “multiple of 10”
Try another way to convert fractions to decimals
Along with enhancing your other fundamental arithmetic abilities, this will assist you in comprehending the connection between fractions and decimals.
Understand the meaning of the denominator as a multiple of 10
The “multiple of 10” denominator is a denominator that includes any positive number that can be multiplied by a multiple of 10. The numbers 1,000 or 1,000,000 are multiples of 10, but in most practical applications of this method, you will probably only use numbers like 10 or 100.
Learn to spot the easiest fractions to convert
Fractions with 5 as the denominator are an obvious candidate, but fractions with a denominator of 25 are also easy to convert. Numbers whose denominator is a multiple of 10 are easy to convert.
Multiply a fraction by another fraction
This second fraction has a denominator that, when the two denominators are multiplied together, produces a multiple of 10. The number above this second fraction (the numerator) will be the same as its denominator. That means the second fractional value is equal to one.
It’s a basic rule in math, multiplying anything by the number one does not change its value. This means that when we multiply the original fraction we have by a fraction with a value of one, that fraction will not change its value, it simply changes the way we represent it.
For example, the fraction 2/2 is just 1 (because 2 divided by itself equals 1). If you were trying to convert 1/5 into a fraction with a denominator of 10, you would multiply this fraction by 2/2. The result will be 2/10.
To multiply two fractions, just multiply straight through. Multiply both numerators together and record the result of multiplying the numerator. Next, multiply the denominators and record the result of that denominator multiplication. You will have a new fraction.
Convert “multiple of 10” fractions to decimals
Take this new fraction’s numerator and put a decimal point at the end of it. Now look at the denominator and count how many numbers there are. Next, move the decimal point in the rewritten numerator to the left the number of spaces equal to the zero in the denominator.
For example, you have the number 2/10. The denominator has a zero. So let’s start by rewriting “2” to “2.” (this does not change the value of the number) and move the decimal point one space to the left. The result is “0.2”.
You will quickly learn this with all numbers with simple denominators. Do it a few times and you’ll find it pretty easy. You simply find a fraction whose denominator is a multiple of 10 (or a denominator that can easily form one) and convert the numerator to a decimal.
Read more >> What is PEMDAS? How to Apply the PEMDAS in Mathematics?
Convert fractions to decimals using a calculator
By utilizing a calculator to divide the fraction’s numerator (the top of the fraction) by the fraction’s denominator (the bottom of the fraction), the process of converting a fraction to a decimal may be made as simple as possible. The value of the fraction stated as a decimal number will be the answer that is arrived at as a consequence.
To convert the fraction 3/4 to the decimal form using a calculator, for example, just do the operation 3 divided by 4 and hit the enter key. The decimal that would be obtained from this would be 0.75.
As a result, you may argue that the fraction 3/4 converted to a decimal is 0.75.
Memorize decimals corresponding to important fractions
Convert common fractions to decimals
You can do this by dividing the numerator by the denominator (the number above by the number below), as was done in the first part of this article. The basic fractions to convert to decimals that you should memorize are 1/4 = 0.25, 1/2 = 0.5, and 3/4 = 0.75.
If you want to convert fractions quickly, just use an internet search engine to find the answer. For example, you can enter “decimal of 1/4” or a similar phrase.
Create info cards
Create information cards with fractions on one side and decimal equivalents on the other. Practicing these will help you memorize fractions and decimal equivalents.
Memorize
Recall in the beginning the decimal equivalent of the fraction. This can be very useful for fractions you use often.
The Bottom Line
How to convert a fraction to a decimal? The answer is detailedly informed above. We hope that this article can be beneficial for you during the process of solving math problems. If you are planning to teach your kids about this essential topic, you can make your own collections of convert fractions to decimal worksheets using our worksheet maker.
