Converting fractions to decimals

How to express a fraction as a decimal

I'll now show you how
to convert a fraction

into a decimal.

And if we have time, maybe
we'll learn how to do a

decimal into a fraction.

So let's start with, what
I would say, is a fairly

straightforward example.

Let's start with
the fraction 1/2.

And I want to convert
that into a decimal.

So the method I'm going to
show you will always work.

What you do is you take the
denominator and you divide

it into the numerator.

Let's see how that works.

So we take the denominator-- is
2-- and we're going to divide

that into the numerator, 1.

And you're probably saying,
well, how do I divide 2 into 1?

Well, if you remember from the
dividing decimals module, we

can just add a decimal point
here and add some trailing 0's.

We haven't actually changed the
value of the number, but we're

just getting some
precision here.

We put the decimal point here.

Does 2 go into 1?

No.

2 goes into 10, so we go 2
goes into 10 five times.

5 times 2 is 10.

Remainder of 0.

We're done.

So 1/2 is equal to 0.5.

Let's do a slightly harder one.

Let's figure out 1/3.

Well, once again, we take the
denominator, 3, and we divide

it into the numerator.

And I'm just going to add a
bunch of trailing 0's here.

3 goes into-- well, 3
doesn't go into 1.

3 goes into 10 three times.

3 times 3 is 9.

Let's subtract, get a
1, bring down the 0.

3 goes into 10 three times.

Actually, this decimal
point is right here.

3 times 3 is 9.

Do you see a pattern here?

We keep getting the same thing.

As you see it's
actually 0.3333.

It goes on forever.

And a way to actually represent
this, obviously you can't write

an infinite number of 3's.

Is you could just write 0.--
well, you could write 0.33

repeating, which means that
the 0.33 will go on forever.

Or you can actually even
say 0.3 repeating.

Although I tend to
see this more often.

Maybe I'm just mistaken.

But in general, this line on
top of the decimal means

that this number pattern
repeats indefinitely.

So 1/3 is equal to 0.33333
and it goes on forever.

Another way of writing
that is 0.33 repeating.

Let's do a couple of, maybe a
little bit harder, but they

all follow the same pattern.

Let me pick some weird numbers.

Let me actually do an
improper fraction.

Let me say 17/9.

So here, it's interesting.

The numerator is bigger
than the denominator.

So actually we're going to
get a number larger than 1.

But let's work it out.

So we take 9 and we
divide it into 17.

And let's add some trailing 0's
for the decimal point here.

So 9 goes into 17 one time.

1 times 9 is 9.

17 minus 9 is 8.

Bring down a 0.

9 goes into 80-- well, we know
that 9 times 9 is 81, so it has

to go into it only eight times
because it can't go

into it nine times.

8 times 9 is 72.

80 minus 72 is 8.

Bring down another 0.

I think we see a
pattern forming again.

9 goes into 80 eight times.

8 times 9 is 72.

And clearly, I could keep
doing this forever and

we'd keep getting 8's.

So we see 17 divided by 9 is
equal to 1.88 where the 0.88

actually repeats forever.

Or, if we actually wanted to
round this we could say that

that is also equal to 1.--
depending where we wanted

to round it, what place.

We could say roughly 1.89.

Or we could round in
a different place.

I rounded in the 100's place.

But this is actually
the exact answer.

17/9 is equal to 1.88.

I actually might do a separate
module, but how would we write

this as a mixed number?

Well actually, I'm going
to do that in a separate.

I don't want to
confuse you for now.

Let's do a couple
more problems.

Let me do a real weird one.

Let me do 17/93.

What does that equal
as a decimal?

Well, we do the same thing.

93 goes into-- I make a really
long line up here because

I don't know how many
decimal places we'll do.

And remember, it's always the
denominator being divided

into the numerator.

This used to confuse me a lot
of times because you're often

dividing a larger number
into a smaller number.

So 93 goes into 17 zero times.

There's a decimal.

93 goes into 170?

Goes into it one time.

1 times 93 is 93.

170 minus 93 is 77.

Bring down the 0.

93 goes into 770?

Let's see.

It will go into it, I think,
roughly eight times.

8 times 3 is 24.

8 times 9 is 72.

Plus 2 is 74.

And then we subtract.

10 and 6.

It's equal to 26.

Then we bring down another 0.

93 goes into 26--
about two times.

2 times 3 is 6.

18.

This is 74.

0.

So we could keep going.

We could keep figuring
out the decimal points.

You could do this indefinitely.

But if you wanted to at least
get an approximation, you would

say 17 goes into 93 0.-- or
17/93 is equal to 0.182 and

then the decimals
will keep going.

And you can keep doing
it if you want.

If you actually saw this on
exam they'd probably tell

you to stop at some point.

You know, round it to the
nearest hundredths or

thousandths place.

And just so you know, let's try
to convert it the other way,

from decimals to fractions.

Actually, this is, I
think, you'll find a

much easier thing to do.

If I were to ask you what
0.035 is as a fraction?

Well, all you do is you say,
well, 0.035, we could write it

this way-- we could write
that's the same thing as 03--

well, I shouldn't write 035.

That's the same
thing as 35/1,000.

And you're probably
saying, Sal, how did

you know it's 35/1000?

Well because we went to 3--
this is the 10's place.

Tenths not 10's.

This is hundreths.

This is the thousandths place.

So we went to 3 decimals
of significance.

So this is 35 thousandths.

If the decimal was let's
say, if it was 0.030.

There's a couple of ways
we could say this.

Well, we could say, oh well
we got to 3-- we went to

the thousandths Place.

So this is the same
thing as 30/1,000.

or.

We could have also said, well,
0.030 is the same thing as

0.03 because this 0 really
doesn't add any value.

If we have 0.03 then we're only
going to the hundredths place.

So this is the same
thing as 3/100.

So let me ask you, are
these two the same?

Well, yeah.

Sure they are.

If we divide both the numerator
and the denominator of both of

these expressions by
10 we get 3/100.

Let's go back to this case.

Are we done with this?

Is 35/1,000-- I
mean, it's right.

That is a fraction.

35/1,000.

But if we wanted to simplify it
even more looks like we could

divide both the numerator
and the denominator by 5.

And then, just to get
it into simplest form,

that equals 7/200.

And if we wanted to convert
7/200 into a decimal using the

technique we just did, so we
would do 200 goes into

7 and figure it out.

We should get 0.035.

I'll leave that up to
you as an exercise.

Hopefully now you get at least
an initial understanding of how

to convert a fraction into a
decimal and maybe vice versa.

And if you don't, just do
some of the practices.

And I will also try to record
another module on this

or another presentation.

Have fun with the exercises.