Decimal --> Fraction

Good morning! Today's Math Monday blog assignment is the opposite of last week's. This week we are to explain two ways we can convert a decimal into a fraction. There are two similar ways to do this that I can think of. I'll tell you which one I prefer and why.

1. The first method we can use is the exact opposite of one I named last week, and it's to set up a proportion. In last week's blog, I explained that you can equate a number that divides evenly into 100 with 100. You can do this this time, too. All decimals are really fractions of 10 and therefore 100. You could make .4 into 40 over 100. This is a fraction, but when reduced it's 2/5. You can check your answer by dividing 2 by 5, which you'll see makes .4.
2. The second method, which is more specific to decimals such as .74 that aren't evenly divisible into 100, is very similar to the last one, only it has an extra step at the beginning. The number 100 has two zeroes after the 1, so you would need to move your decimal point two places to the right. This changes .740 into 74.0, or 74. When you insert 100 as a numerator like you did previously, it becomes 74/100. This would need to be reduced. It reduces to 37/50. You should reduce all fractions whenever you use them, and that's especially important here.

Like I pointed out last week, both of these methods are somewhat specific, and both are easier to use in certain contexts. The former is more applicable in easier things where the numerator is easily divisible into 100 to make an even fraction that can be reduced. The latter can be used in this situation or mor