The first step to changing 5 1/2 into a decimal is to change it to an improper fraction. To do that, we need to multiply 5 by 2 and add its product to 1 in the numerator to get: 11/2. Now we will attempt to convert 11/2 to a decimal using the following method.
A fraction is written in terms of two parts: the number on top is called the numerator and the number on the bottom is called the denominator. We can use the division method to solve this question. To get a decimal, simply divide the numerator 11 by the denominator 2:
11 (numerator) ÷ 2 (denominator) = 5.5
As a result, you get 5.5 as your answer when you convert 5 1/2 (or 11/2) to a decimal.
Practice some more problems on converting fractions to decimals:
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