Learning Objectives
- Name decimals
- Write decimals
- Convert decimals to fractions or mixed numbers
- Locate decimals on the number line
- Order decimals
- Round decimals
Be Prepared 5.1
Before you get started, take this readiness quiz.
- Name the number in words.
If you missed this problem, review Example 1.4. - Round to the nearest ten.
If you missed this problem, review Example 1.9. - Locate on a number line.
If you missed this problem, review Example 4.16.
Name Decimals
You probably already know quite a bit about decimals based on your experience with money. Suppose you buy a sandwich and a bottle of water for lunch. If the sandwich costs , the bottle of water costs , and the total sales tax is , what is the total cost of your lunch?
The total is Suppose you pay with a bill and pennies. Should you wait for change? No, and pennies is the same as
Because each penny is worth of a dollar. We write the value of one penny as since
Writing a number with a decimal is known as decimal notation. It is a way of showing parts of a whole when the whole is a power of ten. In other words, decimals are another way of writing fractions whose denominators are powers of ten. Just as the counting numbers are based on powers of ten, decimals are based on powers of ten. Table 5.1 shows the counting numbers.
Counting number | Name |
---|---|
One | |
Ten | |
One hundred | |
One thousand | |
Ten thousand |
How are decimals related to fractions? Table 5.2 shows the relation.
Decimal | Fraction | Name |
---|---|---|
One tenth | ||
One hundredth | ||
One thousandth | ||
One ten-thousandth |
When we name a whole number, the name corresponds to the place value based on the powers of ten. In Whole Numbers, we learned to read as ten thousand. Likewise, the names of the decimal places correspond to their fraction values. Notice how the place value names in Figure 5.2 relate to the names of the fractions from Table 5.2.
Notice two important facts shown in Figure 5.2.
- The “th” at the end of the name means the number is a fraction. “One thousand” is a number larger than one, but “one thousandth” is a number smaller than one.
- The tenths place is the first place to the right of the decimal, but the tens place is two places to the left of the decimal.
Remember that lunch? We read as five dollars and three cents. Naming decimals (those that don’t represent money) is done in a similar way. We read the number as five and three hundredths.
We sometimes need to translate a number written in decimal notation into words. As shown in Figure 5.3, we write the amount on a check in both words and numbers.
Let’s try naming a decimal, such as 15.68. | |
We start by naming the number to the left of the decimal. | fifteen______ |
We use the word “and” to indicate the decimal point. | fifteen and_____ |
Then we name the number to the right of the decimal point as if it were a whole number. | fifteen and sixty-eight_____ |
Last, name the decimal place of the last digit. | fifteen and sixty-eight hundredths |
The number is read fifteen and sixty-eight hundredths.
How To
Name a decimal number.
- Name the number to the left of the decimal point.
- Write “and” for the decimal point.
- Name the “number” part to the right of the decimal point as if it were a whole number.
- Name the decimal place of the last digit.
Example 5.1
Name each decimal: ⓐ ⓑ ⓒ ⓓ
Solution
ⓐ | |
4.3 | |
Name the number to the left of the decimal point. | four_____ |
Write "and" for the decimal point. | four and_____ |
Name the number to the right of the decimal point as if it were a whole number. | four and three_____ |
Name the decimal place of the last digit. | four and three tenths |
ⓑ | |
2.45 | |
Name the number to the left of the decimal point. | two_____ |
Write "and" for the decimal point. | two and_____ |
Name the number to the right of the decimal point as if it were a whole number. | two and forty-five_____ |
Name the decimal place of the last digit. | two and forty-five hundredths |
ⓒ | |
0.009 | |
Name the number to the left of the decimal point. | Zero is the number to the left of the decimal; it is not included in the name. |
Name the number to the right of the decimal point as if it were a whole number. | nine_____ |
Name the decimal place of the last digit. | nine thousandths |
ⓓ | |
Name the number to the left of the decimal point. | negative fifteen |
Write "and" for the decimal point. | negative fifteen and_____ |
Name the number to the right of the decimal point as if it were a whole number. | negative fifteen and five hundred seventy-one_____ |
Name the decimal place of the last digit. | negative fifteen and five hundred seventy-one thousandths |
Try It 5.1
Name each decimal:
ⓐ ⓑ ⓒ ⓓ
Try It 5.2
Name each decimal:
ⓐ ⓑ ⓒ ⓓ
Write Decimals
Now we will translate the name of a decimal number into decimal notation. We will reverse the procedure we just used.
Let’s start by writing the number six and seventeen hundredths:
six and seventeen hundredths | |
The word and tells us to place a decimal point. | ___.___ |
The word before and is the whole number; write it to the left of the decimal point. | 6._____ |
The decimal part is seventeen hundredths. Mark two places to the right of the decimal point for hundredths. |
6._ _ |
Write the numerals for seventeen in the places marked. | 6.17 |
Example 5.2
Write fourteen and thirty-seven hundredths as a decimal.
Solution
fourteen and thirty-seven hundredths | |
Place a decimal point under the word ‘and’. | ______. _________ |
Translate the words before ‘and’ into the whole number and place it to the left of the decimal point. | 14. _________ |
Mark two places to the right of the decimal point for “hundredths”. | 14.__ __ |
Translate the words after “and” and write the number to the right of the decimal point. | 14.37 |
Fourteen and thirty-seven hundredths is written 14.37. |
Try It 5.3
Write as a decimal: thirteen and sixty-eight hundredths.
Try It 5.4
Write as a decimal: five and eight hundred ninety-four thousandths.
How To
Write a decimal number from its name.
- Step 1. Look for the word “and”—it locates the decimal point.
- Step 2.
Mark the number of decimal places needed to the right of the decimal point by noting the place value indicated by the last word.
- Place a decimal point under the word “and.” Translate the words before “and” into the whole number and place it to the left of the decimal point.
- If there is no “and,” write a “0” with a decimal point to its right.
- Step 3. Translate the words after “and” into the number to the right of the decimal point. Write the number in the spaces—putting the final digit in the last place.
- Step 4. Fill in zeros for place holders as needed.
The second bullet in Step 2 is needed for decimals that have no whole number part, like ‘nine thousandths’. We recognize them by the words that indicate the place value after the decimal – such as ‘tenths’ or ‘hundredths.’ Since there is no whole number, there is no ‘and.’ We start by placing a zero to the left of the decimal and continue by filling in the numbers to the right, as we did above.
Example 5.3
Write twenty-four thousandths as a decimal.
Solution
twenty-four thousandths | |
Look for the word "and". | There is no "and" so start with 0 0. |
To the right of the decimal point, put three decimal places for thousandths. | |
Write the number 24 with the 4 in the thousandths place. | |
Put zeros as placeholders in the remaining decimal places. | 0.024 |
So, twenty-four thousandths is written 0.024 |
Try It 5.5
Write as a decimal: fifty-eight thousandths.
Try It 5.6
Write as a decimal: sixty-seven thousandths.
Before we move on to our next objective, think about money again. We know that is the same as The way we write depends on the context. In the same way, integers can be written as decimals with as many zeros as needed to the right of the decimal.
Convert Decimals to Fractions or Mixed Numbers
We often need to rewrite decimals as fractions or mixed numbers. Let’s go back to our lunch order to see how we can convert decimal numbers to fractions. We know that means dollars and cents. Since there are cents in one dollar, cents means of a dollar, so
We convert decimals to fractions by identifying the place value of the farthest right digit. In the decimal the is in the hundredths place, so is the denominator of the fraction equivalent to
For our lunch, we can write the decimal as a mixed number.
Notice that when the number to the left of the decimal is zero, we get a proper fraction. When the number to the left of the decimal is not zero, we get a mixed number.
How To
Convert a decimal number to a fraction or mixed number.
- Step 1.
Look at the number to the left of the decimal.
- If it is zero, the decimal converts to a proper fraction.
- If it is not zero, the decimal converts to a mixed number.
- Write the whole number.
- Step 2. Determine the place value of the final digit.
- Step 3.
Write the fraction.
- numerator—the ‘numbers’ to the right of the decimal point
- denominator—the place value corresponding to the final digit
- Step 4. Simplify the fraction, if possible.
Example 5.4
Write each of the following decimal numbers as a fraction or a mixed number:
ⓐ ⓑ ⓒ
Solution
ⓐ | |
4.09 | |
There is a 4 to the left of the decimal point. Write "4" as the whole number part of the mixed number. |
|
Determine the place value of the final digit. | |
Write the fraction. Write 9 in the numerator as it is the number to the right of the decimal point. |
|
Write 100 in the denominator as the place value of the final digit, 9, is hundredth. | |
The fraction is in simplest form. |
Did you notice that the number of zeros in the denominator is the same as the number of decimal places?
ⓑ | |
3.7 | |
There is a 3 to the left of the decimal point. Write "3" as the whole number part of the mixed number. |
|
Determine the place value of the final digit. | |
Write the fraction. Write 7 in the numerator as it is the number to the right of the decimal point. |
|
Write 10 in the denominator as the place value of the final digit, 7, is tenths. | |
The fraction is in simplest form. |
ⓒ | |
−0.286 | |
There is a 0 to the left of the decimal point. Write a negative sign before the fraction. |
|
Determine the place value of the final digit and write it in the denominator. | |
Write the fraction. Write 286 in the numerator as it is the number to the right of the decimal point. Write 1,000 in the denominator as the place value of the final digit, 6, is thousandths. |
|
We remove a common factor of 2 to simplify the fraction. |
Try It 5.7
Write as a fraction or mixed number. Simplify the answer if possible.
ⓐ ⓑ ⓒ
Try It 5.8
Write as a fraction or mixed number. Simplify the answer if possible.
ⓐ ⓑ ⓒ
Locate Decimals on the Number Line
Since decimals are forms of fractions, locating decimals on the number line is similar to locating fractions on the number line.
Example 5.5
Locate on a number line.
Solution
The decimal is equivalent to so is located between and On a number line, divide the interval between and into equal parts and place marks to separate the parts.
Label the marks We write as and as so that the numbers are consistently in tenths. Finally, mark on the number line.
Try It 5.9
Locate on a number line.
Try It 5.10
Locate on a number line.
Example 5.6
Locate on a number line.
Solution
The decimal is equivalent to so it is located between and On a number line, mark off and label the multiples of in the interval between and (, , etc.) and mark between and a little closer to .
Try It 5.11
Locate on a number line.
Try It 5.12
Locate on a number line.
Order Decimals
Which is larger, or
If you think of this as money, you know that (forty cents) is greater than (four cents). So,
In previous chapters, we used the number line to order numbers.
Where are and located on the number line?
We see that is to the right of So we know
How does compare to This doesn’t translate into money to make the comparison easy. But if we convert and to fractions, we can tell which is larger.
Convert to fractions. | ||
We need a common denominator to compare them. | ||
Because we know that Therefore,
Notice what we did in converting to a fraction—we started with the fraction and ended with the equivalent fraction Converting back to a decimal gives So is equivalent to Writing zeros at the end of a decimal does not change its value.
If two decimals have the same value, they are said to be equivalent decimals.
We say and are equivalent decimals.
Equivalent Decimals
Two decimals are equivalent decimals if they convert to equivalent fractions.
Remember, writing zeros at the end of a decimal does not change its value.
How To
Order decimals.
- Step 1. Check to see if both numbers have the same number of decimal places. If not, write zeros at the end of the one with fewer digits to make them match.
- Step 2. Compare the numbers to the right of the decimal point as if they were whole numbers.
- Step 3. Order the numbers using the appropriate inequality sign.
Example 5.7
Order the following decimals using
- ⓐ
- ⓑ
Solution
ⓐ | |
Check to see if both numbers have the same number of decimal places. They do not, so write one zero at the right of 0.6. | |
Compare the numbers to the right of the decimal point as if they were whole numbers. | |
Order the numbers using the appropriate inequality sign. |
ⓑ | |
Check to see if both numbers have the same number of decimal places. They do not, so write one zero at the right of 0.83. | |
Compare the numbers to the right of the decimal point as if they were whole numbers. | |
Order the numbers using the appropriate inequality sign. |
Try It 5.13
Order each of the following pairs of numbers, using
ⓐ ⓑ
Try It 5.14
Order each of the following pairs of numbers, using
ⓐ ⓑ
When we order negative decimals, it is important to remember how to order negative integers. Recall that larger numbers are to the right on the number line. For example, because lies to the right of on the number line, we know that Similarly, smaller numbers lie to the left on the number line. For example, because lies to the left of on the number line, we know that
If we zoomed in on the interval between and we would see in the same way that
Example 5.8
Use to order.
Solution
Write the numbers one under the other, lining up the decimal points. | |
They have the same number of digits. | |
Since tenth is greater than tenths. |
Try It 5.15
Order each of the following pairs of numbers, using
Try It 5.16
Order each of the following pairs of numbers, using
Round Decimals
In the United States, gasoline prices are usually written with the decimal part as thousandths of a dollar. For example, a gas station might post the price of unleaded gas at per gallon. But if you were to buy exactly one gallon of gas at this price, you would pay , because the final price would be rounded to the nearest cent. In Whole Numbers, we saw that we round numbers to get an approximate value when the exact value is not needed. Suppose we wanted to round to the nearest dollar. Is it closer to or to What if we wanted to round to the nearest ten cents; is it closer to or to The number lines in Figure 5.4 can help us answer those questions.
Can we round decimals without number lines? Yes! We use a method based on the one we used to round whole numbers.
How To
Round a decimal.
- Step 1. Locate the given place value and mark it with an arrow.
- Step 2. Underline the digit to the right of the given place value.
- Step 3.
Is this digit greater than or equal to
- Yes - add to the digit in the given place value.
- No - do not change the digit in the given place value
- Step 4. Rewrite the number, removing all digits to the right of the given place value.
Example 5.9
Round to the nearest hundredth.
Solution
Locate the hundredths place and mark it with an arrow. | |
Underline the digit to the right of the 7. | |
Because 9 is greater than or equal to 5, add 1 to the 7. | |
Rewrite the number, deleting all digits to the right of the hundredths place. | |
18.38 is 18.379 rounded to the nearest hundredth. |
Try It 5.17
Round to the nearest hundredth:
Try It 5.18
Round to the nearest hundredth:
Example 5.10
Round to the nearest ⓐ tenth ⓑ whole number.
Solution
ⓐ Round 18.379 to the nearest tenth. | |
Locate the tenths place and mark it with an arrow. | |
Underline the digit to the right of the tenths digit. | |
Because 7 is greater than or equal to 5, add 1 to the 3. | |
Rewrite the number, deleting all digits to the right of the tenths place. | |
So, 18.379 rounded to the nearest tenth is 18.4. |
ⓑ Round 18.379 to the nearest whole number. | |
Locate the ones place and mark it with an arrow. | |
Underline the digit to the right of the ones place. | |
Since 3 is not greater than or equal to 5, do not add 1 to the 8. | |
Rewrite the number, deleting all digits to the right of the ones place. | |
So 18.379 rounded to the nearest whole number is 18. |
Try It 5.19
Round to the nearest ⓐ hundredth ⓑ tenth ⓒ whole number.
Try It 5.20
Round to the nearest ⓐ thousandth ⓑ hundredth ⓒ tenth.
Media
Section 5.1 Exercises
Practice Makes Perfect
Name Decimals
In the following exercises, name each decimal.
Write Decimals
In the following exercises, translate the name into a decimal number.
Nine and seven hundredths
Sixty-one and seventy-four hundredths
Six tenths
Nine thousandths
Thirty-five thousandths
Negative fifty-nine and two ten-thousandths
Thirty and two hundred seventy-nine thousandths
Convert Decimals to Fractions or Mixed Numbers
In the following exercises, convert each decimal to a fraction or mixed number.
Locate Decimals on the Number Line
In the following exercises, locate each number on a number line.
Order Decimals
In the following exercises, order each of the following pairs of numbers, using
Round Decimals
In the following exercises, round each number to the nearest tenth.
In the following exercises, round each number to the nearest hundredth.
In the following exercises, round each number to the nearest ⓐ hundredth ⓑ tenth ⓒ whole number.
Everyday Math
Salary Increase Danny got a raise and now makes a year. Round this number to the nearest:
ⓐ dollar
ⓑ thousand dollars
ⓒ ten thousand dollars.
New Car Purchase Selena’s new car cost Round this number to the nearest:
ⓐ dollar
ⓑ thousand dollars
ⓒ ten thousand dollars.
Sales Tax Hyo Jin lives in San Diego. She bought a refrigerator for and when the clerk calculated the sales tax it came out to exactly Round the sales tax to the nearest ⓐ penny ⓑ dollar.
Sales Tax Jennifer bought a dining room set for her home in Cincinnati. She calculated the sales tax to be exactly Round the sales tax to the nearest ⓐ penny ⓑ dollar.
Writing Exercises
Explain how you write “three and nine hundredths” as a decimal.
Jim ran a race in Tim ran the same race in Who had the faster time, Jim or Tim? How do you know?
Gerry saw a sign advertising postcards marked for sale at What is wrong with the advertised price?
Self Check
ⓐ After completing the exercises, use this checklist to evaluate your mastery of the objectives of this section.
ⓑ If most of your checks were:
…confidently. Congratulations! You have achieved the objectives in this section. Reflect on the study skills you used so that you can continue to use them. What did you do to become confident of your ability to do these things? Be specific.
…with some help. This must be addressed quickly because topics you do not master become potholes in your road to success. In math, every topic builds upon previous work. It is important to make sure you have a strong foundation before you move on. Who can you ask for help? Your fellow classmates and instructor are good resources. Is there a place on campus where math tutors are available? Can your study skills be improved?
…no—I don’t get it! This is a warning sign and you must not ignore it. You should get help right away or you will quickly be overwhelmed. See your instructor as soon as you can to discuss your situation. Together you can come up with a plan to get you the help you need.