Decimal to fraction calculator
Every terminating decimal is exactly a fraction. This shows both the exact form and the nearest sixteenth, thirty-second or whatever you need for a tape measure.
Nearest fraction
⅜
- Numerator in lowest terms
- 3
- Denominator in lowest terms
- 8
- Rounding error
- 0
- The decimal itself
- 0.375
Show the working
- Decimal = 0.375
- Round to this denominator = 16
- ticks = round(0.375 * 16) = 6
- Nearest fraction = 6 / 16 = 0.375
- Rounding error = 0.375 - 0.375 = 0
- The decimal itself = 0.375 = 0.375
- Numerator in lowest terms = 6 / gcd(round(6), 16) = 3
- Denominator in lowest terms = 16 / gcd(round(6), 16) = 8
Values are shown to six significant figures here; the arithmetic itself runs on exact fractions and is only rounded where a number is printed.
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The formula
- nearest fraction = round(value x d) / d, then reduce by the greatest common divisor