how can you tell which form of a rational number is most appropriate in a given situation?

Use an integer, or fraction, NEVER a decimal number.

If your number is say 3.5, then the rational answer would be 35/100.

if the number is .75, then the rational answer would be 75/100 or 3/4. It is good form to reduce, but not mandatory (unless your teacher is a fanatic about that).

thanks for the reply. BUT THIS IS THE ACTUAL QUESTION THAT I HAVE BEEN ASKED.

There are some things you can do to help yourself get good help on this website:

1. Make sure you put the subject area (algebra, English, physics, etc.) in the Subject line. As far as I know "please help its bedtime" is not a school subject.

2. Don't post questions at the very last minute. There's no guarantee the right person will be online at that time to help.

3. When you are posting your exact question, you need to state that that's what it is. The teachers here need to know that.

4. Take an educated guess at what you think the answer might be. You'll get better results if the teachers here see that you have tried to answer, even if you are not correct.

5. Whenever you type in all-capital letters, it comes across as shouting. No one reacts well to being shouted at, right?

Thank you for using Jiskha. I hope these little hints above will enable you to get better answers to your questions in the future.

=)