GCSE :: Recurring Decimals

Dr J Frost (jfrost@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk)
Objectives: Convert recurring decimals to and from fractions.

Last modified: 27th December 2018

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RECAP :: Non-recurring decimals to fractions

What are the following decimals as

(simplified) fractions, and why?

This digit is the hundredths

digit, and we have 3 of them!
3
0.03 ?
100
This digit is the thousandths
digit, and we have 45 of them.
45 9
0.045 ?=
1000 200

0.0032 32 8 ? 4 2
= = =
10000 2500 1250 625
Quick Exercises
Express the following as fractions/mixed numbers in their simplest form (no calculators!).

1 ?

2 ?

3 ?

4 ?

5 ?
Converting from fractions to recurring decimals
Recap: How do we usually divide?

?
2 .1 2 5 No remainder at this
point, so can stop.

8 1 2 4
17 .0 0 0 We can add .0 to the end of the
17 to give us an extra digit
8 goes into 17 two whole times, without changing its value. This
but we have a remainder of 1 gives a home for our remainder.
with nowhere to put it… (Ensure you also put a “.”
directly above)
 Converting from fractions to recurring decimals

?
Fro Tip: The number we are
dividing by always goes on the
left of the line – this is not
necessarily the smaller number!
0 .2 7 2
11 3 8 3
3 .0 0 0

You spot at this stage that the digits at the top are
repeating. Continuing would give us 0.27272727…

We can write this as . This means you repeat the digits

between the two dots.
Quickfire Recurring Dot Notation
The teacher will choose people in the class to answer the following in their head!

0.3̇=𝟎.𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑…
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Further Example

as a recurring decimal?

1 .1 3 3
15 17 .0
2 5 5
00
Test Your Understanding

as a recurring decimal?

0 .5 7 1 4 2 8 5
4 5 1 3 2 6 4
7 4 .0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Fro Tip: A common error is to

write . But this would give you
0.5714285571… (with the
repeated 5)
Exercise 1
Express as decimals (using recurring notation where appropriate).
You can use your calculator to check your answer. Investigation
Whether or not the decimal
1
? 6 ? recurs or not depends on the
denominator of the fraction. Try
finding as a decimal for
between 2 and 20. What
7
2
? ? property of the denominator
allows us to tell whether the
decimal recurs?

?
It will terminate (i.e. not recur) if the
3 8
? prime factorisation of the denominator
only contains 2 and 5s. e.g. so will
terminate. This works because we can
divide by 2 by dividing by 10 and
multiplying by 5, or divide by 5 by dividing
4
? 9 ? by 10 and multiplying by 2. Dividing by 10
just shifts the decimal point, so won’t
?
make the decimal expansion recur. The
significance of 2 and 5 is that they are
factors of the “base” of our “decimal
number system” (i.e. base 10), which
5
? 10 ? means that each digit has 10 possible
values. By the same reasoning, we can
only write a fraction in binary (base 2) if
the denominator is a power of 2.
Converting recurring decimals to fractions
Convert to a fraction.
Step 1: Use to represent your
number, and write out the

𝑥 =0.545454 …
repeating digits a few times.

100 𝑥=54.545454 …
Step 2: The digits repeat
every 2 digits, so multiply
both sides by 100. If it

99 𝑥=54
repeated every 1 digit,
multiply by 10, or if every 3
digits, by 1000, or every 4

54 6 digits, by 10000, and so on.

𝑥= = Fro Tip: Make sure the

99 11 decimal points line up. This

makes the next step easier.

Step 3: Subtract the two

equations. Your recurring
Step 4: Divide appropriately
decimals should cancel.
to find the value of .
Further Example
Convert to a fraction.
Step 1: Use to represent your
number, and write out the

𝑥 =0.1333 3 …
repeating digits a few times.

10 𝑥=1.333 33 …
Step 2: If it repeated every 1
digit, multiply by 10, or if every 2
digits, by 100, or if every 3 digits,

9 𝑥=1.2 by 1000, and so on…

Fro Tip: Make sure the

1.212 decimal points line up. This

makes the next step easier.
𝑥= ¿
990
Step 3: Subtract the two
equations. Your recurring
decimals should cancel. Note
that you may still have digits
Step 4: Divide appropriately. left after the decimal point.

Step 5: We don’t like decimals within fractions,

so multiply numerator and denominator by
10/10/1000 to we don’t have decimals.
Further Examples

43
3.0 8̇ 6̇=3 ?
495
5396 2698
0.5 4̇ 0 1̇= ? =
9990 4995
This is a past paper
GCSE question, and
on the harder end.
Test Your Understanding
Match the recurring decimals to their corresponding fractions (no calculators permitted!)

0.123 0.12 3̇ 0.1 2̇ 3̇ 0. 1̇2 3̇

123 41 37 61
1000 333 300 495
Exercise 2

1 ? 7 ?
2
? 8 ?
3
? 9 ?
4
? 10 ?
5 ? 11 ?
Use the fact that to show that
N
6 ? If then
Thus
?
12