Final answer:
The algebraic expression that best matches the given statement 'One less than one-fourth the square of a number' is option (a) 0.25x^2 - 1.
Step-by-step explanation:
The algebraic expression that best matches the given statement 'One less than one-fourth the square of a number' is option (a) 0.25x^2 - 1.
To find the expression, we break down the statement into smaller parts:
One-fourth the square of a number is represented as (1/4)x^2. And one less than that is (1/4)x^2 - 1.