What is the Decimal Equivalent of 3/8?
Imagine you’re at a birthday party, and there’s a delicious cake in front of you. The cake has been sliced into eight equal pieces—perfect for sharing among friends. Now, if John decides to indulge and eats three out of those eight slices, how much of the cake did he actually consume? You might be surprised to learn that this simple fraction can easily be converted into a decimal.
To find out what 3/8 equals in decimal form, we need to perform a bit of division: simply divide 3 by 8. At first glance, it seems straightforward enough; however, let’s break it down step-by-step so that everyone can follow along.
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Start with Division: When you begin dividing 3 by 8, you’ll notice that 8 doesn’t fit into 3 at all (0 times). So we place our decimal point right after the zero.
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Add Zeros: To continue our division beyond whole numbers, we add a zero next to the three making it look like this: (30).
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Divide Again: Now ask yourself how many times does 8 go into 30? It fits exactly three times (since (8 \times 3 = 24)). After subtracting this from our current number (30 – 24), we’re left with a remainder of (6).
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Keep Going: Bring down another zero next to your remainder giving us (60). How many times does (8) fit into (60)? This time it goes seven times ((7 \times 8 =56)), leaving us with a remainder of (4).
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Final Steps: Add yet another zero making it now (40). Here again, see how many times does (8) fit? It fits perfectly five times ((5 \times $=40)), resulting in no remainder left over.
Putting all these steps together gives us an answer! When we finish dividing through these steps systematically:
[3 ÷ 8 = 0.\underline{375}
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So there you have it—the decimal equivalent of eating three-eighths of that delightful cake is precisely 0.375!
Now let’s reflect on why understanding decimals matters—not just for math class but also in everyday life! Decimals help us make sense when measuring ingredients while cooking or figuring out prices during shopping trips where every cent counts.
You might wonder about other fractions too—how they convert and compare—but knowing how to work through one example helps build confidence for tackling others as well! Next time you’re faced with similar questions or even trying your hand at baking something delicious yourself—remember John’s slice and enjoy both the process and outcome without any confusion about those pesky fractions!