Question

How do I convert the fraction 7/8 into a decimal?

Answer 1

`7/8=0.875`

Explanation:

As the only prime factor of denominator is `2`, in fact there are three twos (`2xx2xx2`) we can can convert the fraction `7/8` by multiplying numerator and denominator by `5xx5xx5`.

Hence, `7/8=(7xx5xx5xx5)/(8xx5xx5xx5)=875/1000=0.875`

(This is always possible if only prime factors of denominator are `2`'s and `5`'s - just multiply by as many `5`'s and `2`'s).

Answer 2

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

Explanation:

A fraction is actually stated division. 7/8 means 7 divided by 8.

Ask "How many times does 8 go into 7"?

Do long division : put a decimal point after the 7 and add some zeros:

8 goes into 7 zero times. Put a decimal point after the zero up in the answer, and just continue with long division.

7/8 is a rational number (a fraction), so you know the division will end. The Remainder will be zero.

I'm not able to create an image here, so go to this site to see the problem:

http://www.webmath.com/divide.html

Just do the division which is the meaning of the fraction.

Connie