Question: What is -3.1738459180002E-5 as a fraction?

Step 1:

The first step to converting -3.1738459180002E-5 to a fraction is to re-write -3.1738459180002E-5 in the form p/q where p and q are both positive integers. To start with, -3.1738459180002E-5 can be written as simply -3.1738459180002E-5/1 to technically be written as a fraction.

Step 2:

Next, we will count the number of fractional digits after the decimal point in -3.1738459180002E-5, which in this case is 16. For however many digits after the decimal point there are, we will multiply the numerator and denominator of -3.1738459180002E-5/1 each by 10 to the power of that many digits. So, in this case, we will multiply the numerator and denominator of -3.1738459180002E-5/1 each by 10000000000000000:

Step 3:

Now the last step is to simplify the fraction (if possible) by finding similar factors and cancelling them out, which leads to the following answer for -3.1738459180002E-5 as a fraction: