How do you express the number 3.5 as a fraction?

To express the number 3.5 as a fraction, consider that the decimal can be broken down into its whole number and fractional parts. The whole number part is 3, and the decimal part, 0.5, can be represented as 1/2.

Thus, you can express 3.5 as:

3 + 0.5 = 3 + 1/2

To combine these into a single fraction, we convert the whole number 3 into a fraction that has the same denominator as 1/2. Since 2 is the denominator of 1/2, we convert 3:

3 = 3/1 = (32)/(12) = 6/2

Now, we add:

6/2 + 1/2 = (6 + 1)/2 = 7/2

This shows that 3.5 can be accurately expressed as 7/2 in fraction form.

Options not selected do not properly represent the decimal value of 3.5. For instance, while 34/10 and 35/10 are fractions, they do not simplify to the correct value of 3.5 when converted to their simplest forms.