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Converting Fractions and Decimals Guide Notes Math 8

Converting a Fraction to a Decimal

To convert a fraction to a decimal, divide the numerator by the denominator.

To convert a fraction to a decimal, write an equivalent fraction (if possible) whose denominator is 10, 100, or
1000.

Remember that the numerator is the dividend and the denominator is the divisor.

A terminating decimal is a decimal with a finite number of digits after the decimal point.

A repeating decimal is a decimal in which one digit or a group of digits is repeated without end.

Sample Problem 1: Convert each fraction to a decimal, then determine if its decimal expansion is repeating
or terminating.
a. 𝟑 b. 𝟑
𝟒 𝟏𝟏

𝟑 𝟑 ∗ 𝟐𝟓 𝟕𝟓 𝟑 ÷ 𝟏𝟏 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟕𝟐𝟕𝟐 … … …
= = = 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓
𝟒 𝟒 ∗ 𝟐𝟓 𝟏𝟎𝟎 −𝟎
𝟑 𝟑𝟎
= 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓
𝟒 −𝟐𝟐
𝟖𝟎
A terminating decimal −𝟕𝟕
𝟑𝟎
−𝟐𝟐
𝟖𝟎
−𝟕𝟕
𝟑𝟎
𝟐𝟐
𝟑
𝟑
= 𝟎. 𝟐𝟕𝟐𝟕𝟐 … … …
𝟏𝟏

𝟑
= 𝟎. ̅̅̅̅
𝟐𝟕
𝟏𝟏

A repeating decimal

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Converting Fractions and Decimals Guide Notes Math 8

c. 𝟏𝟐 d. 𝟑
𝟏𝟐𝟖 𝟏𝟔
𝟏𝟐 ÷ 𝟏𝟐𝟖 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟗𝟑𝟕𝟓 𝟑 ÷ 𝟏𝟔 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟖𝟕𝟓
−𝟎 −𝟎
𝟏𝟐𝟎 𝟑𝟎
−𝟎 − 𝟏𝟔
𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟒𝟎
−𝟏, 𝟏𝟓𝟐 −𝟏𝟐𝟖
𝟒𝟖𝟎 𝟏𝟐𝟎
−𝟑𝟖𝟒 −𝟏𝟏𝟐
𝟗𝟔𝟎 𝟖𝟎
−𝟖𝟗𝟔 −𝟖𝟎
𝟔𝟒𝟎 𝟎
𝟔𝟒𝟎
𝟎 𝟑
𝟏𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟖𝟕𝟓
= 𝟎. 𝟎𝟗𝟑𝟕𝟓 𝟏𝟔
𝟏𝟐𝟖
A terminating decimal
A terminating decimal

Converting a Decimal to a Fraction

A terminating decimal can be written as a fraction simply by writing it as decimal fractions.

Sample problem 2: Convert each terminating decimal to a fraction.

a. 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 b. 𝟒. 𝟓

𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 𝟒. 𝟓
𝟐𝟓 𝟏 ∗ 𝟐𝟓 𝟏 𝟓 𝟓∗𝟏 𝟏
𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 = 𝟏 =𝟏 =𝟏 𝟒. 𝟓 = 𝟒 =𝟒 =𝟒
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟒 ∗ 𝟐𝟓 𝟒 𝟏𝟎 𝟓∗𝟐 𝟐
𝟏 𝟏
𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 = 𝟏 𝟒. 𝟓 = 𝟒
𝟒 𝟐

c. 𝟎. 𝟎𝟒 d. −𝟓. 𝟏𝟐

𝟎. 𝟎𝟒 −𝟓. 𝟏𝟐
𝟒 𝟒∗𝟏 𝟏 𝟏𝟐 𝟒∗𝟑 𝟑
𝟎. 𝟎𝟒 = = = −𝟓. 𝟏𝟐 = −𝟓 = −𝟓 = −𝟓
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟒 ∗ 𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟒 ∗ 𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓
𝟏 𝟑
𝟎. 𝟎𝟒 = −𝟓. 𝟏𝟐 = −𝟓
𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓

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Converting Fractions and Decimals Guide Notes Math 8

A repeating decimal can be written as a fraction.

Follow these steps, to change each repeating decimal to a fraction.

Step 1: Let 𝑥 equal the repeating decimal.

Step 2: Multiply by powers of 1, 10, or 100 to create 2 equations that isolate the repeating part of the decimal.

Step 3: Subtract the equations to remove the repeating part of the decimal.

Step 4: Solve the resulting equation and simplify the fraction.

Sample problem 3: Convert each repeating decimal to a fraction.

a. 𝟎. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 … …. b. 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓𝟐𝟓𝟐𝟓 … … ..

𝟎. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓𝟐𝟓𝟐𝟓 … ….
𝟏𝟎𝒙 = 𝟔. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝒙 = 𝟏𝟐𝟓. 𝟐𝟓𝟐𝟓
− 𝒙 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 − 𝒙 = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓𝟐𝟓
_________________ ______________________________
𝟗𝒙 = 𝟔 𝟗𝟗𝒙 = 𝟏𝟐𝟒
𝟔 𝟐∗𝟑 𝟏𝟐𝟒
𝒙= = 𝒙=
𝟗 𝟑∗𝟑 𝟗𝟗
𝟐
𝒙=
𝟑
c. 𝟎. 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟖 … …. d. 𝟎. 𝟑𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕 … … ..

𝟎. 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟖 𝟎. 𝟑𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕 … ….
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝒙 = 𝟏𝟖. 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟖 𝟏, 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝒙 = 𝟑𝟕𝟏. 𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕
− 𝒙 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟖 − 𝟏𝟎 𝒙 = 𝟑. 𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕
_________________ ______________________________
𝟗𝟗𝒙 = 𝟏𝟖 𝟗𝟗𝟎𝒙 = 𝟑𝟔𝟖
𝟏𝟖 𝟗∗𝟐 𝟑𝟔𝟖 𝟐 ∗ 𝟏𝟖𝟒
𝒙= = 𝒙= =
𝟗𝟗 𝟗 ∗ 𝟏𝟏 𝟗𝟗𝟎 𝟐 ∗ 𝟒𝟗𝟓
𝟐 𝟏𝟖𝟒
𝒙= 𝒙=
𝟏𝟏 𝟒𝟗𝟓

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