Question

How do you write the number $ \left( {\dfrac{{10}}{{25}}} \right) $ as a decimal?

Answer 1

Hint: In the given question, we are required to convert a given fraction into decimal. The fraction is having numerator and denominator. So, we first simplify the fraction and bring it in simplest form. Then, we convert it into percentage by multiplying it with $ 100 $ and in order to convert it in decimal we will perform the division. The fraction may also be converted into decimal directly by division.

Complete step by step solution:
The given question requires us to convert the given fraction into its simplest form by cancelling out the common factors in numerator and denominator and then expressing it as decimal representation.
So, to convert the given fraction into its simplest form, we factorise the numerator as well as denominator and look for the common factors.
We have, $ 10 = 2 \times 5 $ and $ 25 = 5 \times 5 $ .
So, cancelling out the numerator and denominator by the common factor $ 5 $ , we get,
 $ \left( {\dfrac{{10}}{{25}}} \right) = \left( {\dfrac{2}{5}} \right) $
Now, to convert the fraction into the decimal representation, we divide the numerator by the denominator until we get zero as the remainder.
Hence, we get, $ \left( {\dfrac{{10}}{{25}}} \right) = 0.4 $ .
So, the correct answer is “0.4”.

Note: The division of the numerator by the denominator can be a cumbersome task as it involves thorough knowledge of algebraic rules and long division method. Care should be taken while doing the same and proceeding with the process to convert a fraction into decimal. In this case it is very easy to divide the numbers.