How do you simplify and make the fraction 16/88 into a decimal?

1 Answer
Oct 1, 2015

To simplify, factor the numerator and denominator to find the greatest common factor 88 and divide both by that to find:

16/88 = 2 / 111688=211

Then find 2/11 = 0.dot(1)dot(8)211=0..1.8

Explanation:

16 = 2 * 816=28 and 88 = 11 * 888=118

So:

16/88 = (2*8)/(11*8) = 2/11 * 8/8 = 2/111688=28118=21188=211

To convert 2/11211 to a decimal we can long divide and recognise the repetition of the remainder...

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Notice that after a couple of digits we're back to the number 22 we first started with. So 2/11 = 0.18181818... = 0.dot(1)dot(8)

Alternatively, just notice that 9 xx 11 = 99, so

2/11 = 2/11 * 9/9 = 18/99 = 0.dot(1)dot(8)