wheels on some in-line skates can be removed using a 5/32-in. allen wrench. what is 5/32 written in decimal

Question

5/32 in decimal

Answer 1

If you are allowed to use a calculator, you can convert a fraction to a decimal by dividing the numerator by the denominator.  5 divided by 32 is 0.15625.

 

To convert a decimal back to a fraction, you need to look at the decimal.  In the above example, the decimal is 0.15625.  The first spot after the decimal is the tenths place.  The next spot is the hundredths place.  After that, it is the thousandths place then the ten-thousandths place then the hundred-thousandths place..  This decimal (0.15625) can therefore be looked at as 15625 hundred-thousandths, or 15625/100000.  Now we can reduce this fraction by finding the largest number that both the numerator (15625) and the denominator (100,000) are divisible by.  In this case, it is 3125.  So your un-reduced fraction of 15,625/100,000 can be reduced back to 5/32 by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by 3,125.  This gives you 5/32 =)

 

If you ever want to convert a decimal to a percentage, multiply by 100.  (0.15625) x (100) = 15.625%.  Quick Method: move the decimal point 2 places to the right and add a "%" sign =)

Answer 2

To convert this fraction to a decimal, we use long division to divide 5 by 32.

 

 

      0 . 1 5  6  2  5

     ______________

32 | 5. 0                        we add a zero to the dividend each time we reach a new dividend

       3  2                        because 5.00000 is the same as 5.

      ______

       1  8 0

       1  6 0

       ________

           2  0  0

           1  9  2

          _______

                   8  0

                   6  4

                  _______

                   1  6  0

                   1  6  0

                  ______

                          0

 

 

When the new dividend becomes zero, we are done with the division.  If we did not obtain a zero every time we repeat the process, then it will indicate that the decimal has many significant digits after the decimal point.

 

5 / 32 = 0.15625