Programmed Math/Decimals

Decimals (or floating point numbers) are the opposite of fractions, where fractions take the form of a number over a number eg: ${\frac {1}{2}}$ which is one half.

In decimal format this would be 0.5. Why?

Well one half of 1 is 0.5 since 0.5 * 2 is equal to 1. If we multiply the number at the bottom by the decimal we should get the number at the top. Such as:

${\frac {2}{4}}$ Is still one half. $2/4=0.5$ since ${\frac {1}{2}}={\frac {2}{4}}$ and $0.5*4=2$

So the formulae could be: ${\frac {a}{b}}=x$ and thus $x*b=a$

Dividing Decimals

Division by decimals is similar to dividing by whole numbers.

Rebecca enjoys pushing her scooter around the City-park pond after school and on weekends. If she circles the pond 7 times and total distance of 5.88 km, what is the distance around the pond?

To divide a decimal by a whole number, divide the dividend, disregarding the decimal point. Then place the decimal point in the quotient directly above the decimal point in the dividend.

Steps for Diving with Decimals

The problem of 8 divided 4 was easy enough. We're dealing with two whole numbers, so we just separated 8 into 4 groups to end up with 2 in each group. But what if we have decimals in our division problem? A decimal is a fraction of a whole number written as with as a number with a decimal point. 0.25 is an example of a decimal number.