Decimals and Fractions

In Decimals, we learned to convert decimals to fractions. Now we will do the reverse-convert fractions to decimals. Remember that the fraction bar indicates division. So \(\frac{4}{5}\) can be written \(4 \div 5\) or \(5 \overline{)4}\). This means that we can convert a fraction to a decimal by treating it as a division problem.

EXAMPLE 5.28

Write the fraction \(\frac{3}{4}\) as a decimal.

Solution

A fraction bar means division, so we can write the fraction \(\frac{3}{4}\) using division.
Divide.
	So the fraction \(\frac{3}{4}\) is equal to \(0.75\).

EXAMPLE 5.29

Solution

The value of this fraction is negative. After dividing, the value of the decimal will be negative. We do the division ignoring the sign, and then write the negative sign in the answer.	\(-\frac{7}{2}\)
Divide \(7\) by \(2\).
	So, \( -\frac{7}{2}=-3.5 \text {. } \)

Source: Rice University, https://openstax.org/books/prealgebra/pages/5-3-decimals-and-fractions
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

TRY IT 5.55

Write the fraction as a decimal: \(\frac{1}{4}\).

TRY IT 5.56

Write the fraction as a decimal: \(\frac{3}{8}\).

TRY IT 5.57

Write the fraction as a decimal: \(-\frac{9}{4}\).

TRY IT 5.58

Write the fraction as a decimal: \(-\frac{11}{2}\).

TRY IT 5.55

\(0.25\)

TRY IT 5.56

\(0.375\)

TRY IT 5.57

\(-2.25\)

TRY IT 5.58