# What is 4/5 as a decimal?

## Want to practice?

The fractions that have numbers with 1 followed by one or more zeros in the denominator can be directly converted to the decimal form. The decimal in the numerator of the fraction is moved as many digits to the left as many zeros in the denominator.

### Example:

$$\frac{\mathbf7}{\mathbf{10}}\boldsymbol=\mathbf0\boldsymbol.\mathbf7$$ $$\frac{\mathbf{12}}{\mathbf{100}}\boldsymbol=\mathbf0\boldsymbol.\mathbf{12}$$

The first fraction has one zero in the denominator, hence the decimal digit is shifted one digit to the left.

Similarly, the second fraction has two zeros in the denominator, the decimal digit is shifted two digits to the left in the numerator.

The fractions that do not have denominators with 1 followed by one or more zeros also can be converted to decimal form using this method.

We use equivalent fractions to convert the given fraction to get the suitable denominator.

Equivalent fractions are fractions that are derived from one fraction by multiplying the same number to the numerator and the denominator.

To change the fraction $$\frac45$$ given here, we should find a suitable number that can be multiplied to the denominator to give a result with 1 followed by one or more zeros.

The first such number is 2, which when multiplied by 5 gives 10.

$$\frac{\mathbf4}{\mathbf5}\boldsymbol=\frac{\mathbf4\boldsymbol\times\mathbf2}{\mathbf5\boldsymbol\times\mathbf2}\boldsymbol=\frac{\mathbf8}{\mathbf{10}}$$

As the denominator has one zero, the decimal point in the numerator will shift by one digit to give 0.8.

$$\frac{\mathbf4}{\mathbf5}\boldsymbol=\mathbf0\boldsymbol.\mathbf8$$

## Remember

Here are some common terms you should be familiar with.

• In the fraction $$\frac45$$, the number 4 is the dividend (our numerator)
• The number 5 is our divisor (our denominator)

Such a topic may be interesting for you: What is 8/11 as a decimal fraction?