Oddly enough, converting fractions to decimals is one of the most used and useful mathematical methods that exist, since it is used on countless occasions.
Actually, a decimal number and a fraction are exactly the same, that is, the way to represent a number that is not an integer at a mathematical level. For example, if a number has a non-integer part that is less than one, it can be added with a decimal after a comma, or it can be represented as a fraction.
What I’m trying to say is that if you have 4 parts of 1 and a half of one, you can represent it as either 4.5 or in the form (4+1/2) . In this way, we will be able to use both methods to perform calculations.
However, if you have had complex mathematics, such as high school, you will have realized that it is much easier to work with fractions than to work with decimal numbers. The reason is that the fractions are calculated better, they always have whole numbers as results and they are much more aesthetic from time to time.
Apart from that thanks to fractions, methods can be used to solve math problems, such as factorial decomposition and simplification. Many times we come across a problem that if we leave it in decimals it will be much more complicated to solve than if it has fractions.
This article to convert decimals to fractions will surely also interest you.
That yes, there are also occasions in which this is the other way around, that is, in which we need the decimal numbers to be able to do the problem. A fraction is really nothing more than the vertical representation of a division, but it is not an integer that we can put as the final result.
For this reason, it is necessary to learn how to convert a fraction to decimal numbers, since only then will we be able to solve some complex math problems, just as it happens the other way around on some occasions.
The thing is that you are surely a person who, like me, has not studied mathematics for many years, since it is something that you have not given since high school and since university if you are from the branch of science. This means that all this about fractions, decimals and everything else you probably have forgotten a little, that is, you probably don’t know how to do it right now.
However, I believe that knowledge does not take place and that the knowledge you had in mathematics is out there somewhere . In this way, you just need someone to refresh your memory a bit, so that these knowledge come out again at the same time.
This is precisely what we are going to do in this article, in which we are going to learn easily and step by step how we can convert a fraction into decimals, so that you can do mathematical operations in the simplest way possible.
Instructions for Converting Fractions to Decimals
- Method 1, the division method: The first method that we are going to learn in this article is the division method, a method to convert fractions to decimals with which we are going to quickly carry out an operation of this type. The way to do it is quite simple, since all we really have to do is divide the number on the top of the fraction by the number on the bottom. In this way, the result that it gives us will be the decimal of the fraction, which will be the same as the result of it. This works well because a fraction is actually a representation of the decimal, but in a division form that’s a bit more visually pleasing. For example, it’s much more visually pleasing to put 1/2 than to put 0.5, but it’s really the same thing. This method is the simplest and most effective, since if we have a calculator at hand, we will be able to do it in a matter of seconds.
- Method 2: the method of multiplication and simplification: The second method that we are going to use is the famous method of multiplication and then simplification, a method that consists of seeing at once the part of a fraction that it occupies with respect to 100. We are going to do it with respect to 100 since decimals are really multiples of these methods. After we do that, we’re going to divide the number above by 100 to give us decimal form. The way to do it is to divide 100 by the divisor of the fraction and then take that number and multiply it by this number. Once we know what this number is, we also multiply the number by the dividend since in this way, the number does not vary and the operation can be done without making any changes to the number in question. For example, if we have the fraction 1/4, we divide 100/4 and it gives us 25. So we multiply 4×25 to get 100 and multiply 25 x 1 to get 25. In this way, we have the fraction 25/100 and if we take into account that 100 is one, 25 is 0.25, since 25/100 is 0.25. In this way, we have achieved the same as in step 1, but it is something that we have been able to do by ourselves, without having to use a calculator. For this reason, this method will get you out of trouble in cases where you have complex fractions and you don’t have a calculator handy.
- Method 3: The Graphical Method: This method was used by children to learn fractions, which were divided as pieces of something, something that made it more fun to learn and of course, easier to learn. For example, if we have the fraction 1/4, we are going to draw a line in 4 equal parts and we are only going to color a part of it. In this way, we are already knowing that only one part of the 4 is a fraction. Now, how can this be passed to a number, dividing the part that we have colored by the part without coloring, that is to say 1/4, which is 0.25. Although this method is not suitable for an adult, since as you can see it does not work if you have a calculator, it can be used to teach mathematics in a simple way to your children, who will be able to learn with just a glance at the colors that we have done.
- Method 4: the “by eye” method: Many times we do calculations of things that we can do with our heads by eye, especially in simple fractions. For example, everyone knows that half of something is 0.5, so if you see 1/2, which is half of something, you’re always going to know that it’s about 0.5, without getting out your calculator or anything like that. In other cases like 1/4, exactly the same thing happens, since if we try to divide one into 4 parts, we are left with 0.25 part of something, that is, 0.25 is the result of the operation. As you will see, you will not need a calculator except in the most serious cases of fractions, such as 567/543, a fraction that obviously cannot be solved by eye. However, I believe that even multiples of 10 can be solved by eye without problems and without using any type of device to calculate them.