Di and Leo both write the decimal 2.55555555.. As a fraction.

Question

Di’s fraction: 2 55/100
Leo’s fraction: 2 55/99

Who is correct and why? Explain in 3 sentences.

Answer 1

Leo is correct. The decimal form 2.55555... can be written as a fraction by recognizing that the repeating decimal 0.55 can be expressed as 55/99 (since there are two decimal places). Adding the whole number 2 to this fraction gives us 2 55/99. Di's fraction, on the other hand, incorrectly expresses the decimal as 55/100, which implies that the repeating decimal stops after the second digit.