Lesson WHAT IS a decimal

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A decimal is nothing but a specially written form of a fraction. A decimal has two parts, the integer part and the fractional part, which starts with the dot character '.'. Consider this decimal number: 2.5. The integer part is 2 and the fractional part is .5.
The equivalent fraction would be a fraction with the same integer part, the numerator given by the fractional part of the decimal, and the denominator that is 1 followed by the number of zeroes that is the same as the number of digits in the fractional part.
2.5+=+2%265%2F10
1.228+=+1%26228%2F1000
Decimals are not conceptually very different from fractions, but they are useful for several reasons. One is that they save space because they fit into a line of regular text. The second is that comparing them is easier. Try comparing 2%2F5 and 21%2F100, it is not very easy. With their decimal representations, it is much easier. 2%2F5+=+0.2 and 21%2F100+=+0.21.
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