as_integer_ratio() in Python for reduced fraction of a given rational

In this tutorial, we are going to write a program that returns two numbers whose ratio is equal to the given float value. The as_integer_ratio() method helps to achieve our goal by converting a float into its exact fractional representation.

Let's see some examples ?

Input:
1.5
Output:
3 / 2

Input:
5.3
Output:
5967269506265907 / 1125899906842624

Syntax

The as_integer_ratio() method is called on a float value and returns a tuple containing the numerator and denominator ?

float_value.as_integer_ratio()

Return Value

Returns a tuple (numerator, denominator) where both are integers and their ratio equals the original float value. The fraction is always in its simplest form.

Example 1: Simple Decimal

# initializing the float value
float_value = 1.5

# getting integers tuple using the as_integer_ratio() method
integers = float_value.as_integer_ratio()

# printing the integers
print(f'{integers[0]} / {integers[1]}')

3 / 2

Example 2: Complex Decimal

Some decimal numbers cannot be represented exactly in binary floating-point, leading to very large numerators and denominators ?

# initializing the float value
float_value = 5.3

# getting integers tuple using the as_integer_ratio() method
integers = float_value.as_integer_ratio()

# printing the integers
print(f'{integers[0]} / {integers[1]}')

5967269506265907 / 1125899906842624

Example 3: Multiple Values

# testing with multiple float values
values = [0.25, 0.125, 2.75, 0.1]

for val in values:
    numerator, denominator = val.as_integer_ratio()
    print(f'{val} = {numerator} / {denominator}')

0.25 = 1 / 4
0.125 = 1 / 8
2.75 = 11 / 4
0.1 = 3602879701896397 / 36028797018963968

Key Points

Conclusion

The as_integer_ratio() method converts floats to their exact fractional representation as a tuple. Note that some decimals may result in large numbers due to binary floating-point limitations.