Question

A teacher asks his students to find a fraction that is equal to the decimal 1.45. Beto says the decimal is equal to 16/11. Rayna says the decimal is equal to 131/90 Which student is correct?

Answer 1

Answer: Neither is correct.

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Reason:

Dividing by 11 leads to a repeating fraction, so that rules out 16/11. The decimal value 1.45 doesn't repeat and is instead a terminating decimal.

It's a bit interesting that 16/11 = 1.454545... so if we were to round it, then 16/11 is approximately 1.45; however, 16/11 is not exactly 1.45

As for 131/90, that won't work either because 9 is a factor of 90. Dividing by 9 leads to a repeating fraction.

131/90 = 1.455555...

This rounds to 1.46

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Here's one way to determine what fraction is equal to 1.45

1.45 = 1.45/1

1.45 = 145/100

1.45 = (29*5)/(20*5)

1.45 = 29/20

You can use a calculator or long division to see that 29/20 converts to 1.45