How can I express 0.25 as a fraction in its simplest form?

To convert the decimal 0.25 into a fraction, follow these straightforward steps:

1. Understand the decimal: The number 0.25 can be read as ‘twenty-five hundredths’ because it has two decimal places. This indicates that it is 25 parts out of 100.
2. Write the fraction: Based on this understanding, we can initially express 0.25 as a fraction: 0.25 = \frac{25}{100}.
3. Simplify the fraction: To simplify the fraction, we need to find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of the numerator (25) and the denominator (100). The GCD of 25 and 100 is 25.
4. Divide both the numerator and denominator by their GCD:
   \frac{25 \div 25}{100 \div 25} = \frac{1}{4}.
5. Conclusion: Therefore, the simplest form of the fraction that represents 0.25 is \frac{1}{4}.

This means that when you see the decimal 0.25, it is equivalent to one-fourth when expressed as a fraction in its simplest form.