## Mrfootballman97 3 years ago Is there any equation that tells you how to express the ratio of the height to the base in simplest form? The Height is 1m and the base 0.6m. Another would be height 1m, and the base 85cm. If there is no equation to help me could you explain to me how to do this problem? Thanks!

1. hieuvo

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2. phi

There is no equation, but there is a "procedure" you can follow start by writing down the ratio $\frac{1}{0.6}$ The first thing to do is "get rid of the decimal" by multiplying it by 10: 0.6 * 10= 6 But remember if you multiply the bottom, you must multiply the top to keep things in ratio: $\frac{1\cdot 10}{0.6\cdot 10} =\frac{10}{6}$ now we have an "ordinary" simplification problem. The way to do these is factor the numbers into their prime factors (that means you should memorize the prime numbers up to however ambitious you are, but at least up to 20.. See http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/prime-numbers-to-10k.html the first row would be excellent. 2nd it is helpful to learn the divisibility rules http://www.mathsisfun.com/divisibility-rules.html to help when factoring

3. phi

to finish your problem $\frac{10}{6}= \frac{2\cdot 5}{2\cdot 3}$ "cancel" any numbers that are in both the top and bottom (why? because 2/2 here is 1) $\frac{\cancel{2}\cdot 5}{\cancel{2}\cdot 3}= \frac{ 5}{3}$

4. Mrfootballman97

Thanks!