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What Are Decimals

A decimal represents a fractional part of a whole number and is commonly used to represent monetary amounts. Decimals are read by stating the whole number portion followed by the decimal as tenths, hundredths, etc. It is important to understand decimals because they allow us to accurately quantify fractional amounts, as shown in the example where writing $12.5 instead of $12.05 results in underpaying by 45 cents. Decimals can be written in expanded notation by separating each place value or in standard form by including place holding zeros to ensure consistent decimal lengths when comparing values.

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Amir Mohd
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188 views13 pages

What Are Decimals

A decimal represents a fractional part of a whole number and is commonly used to represent monetary amounts. Decimals are read by stating the whole number portion followed by the decimal as tenths, hundredths, etc. It is important to understand decimals because they allow us to accurately quantify fractional amounts, as shown in the example where writing $12.5 instead of $12.05 results in underpaying by 45 cents. Decimals can be written in expanded notation by separating each place value or in standard form by including place holding zeros to ensure consistent decimal lengths when comparing values.

Uploaded by

Amir Mohd
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

What is a

Decimal?

What is a decimal?
A decimal is similar to a fraction in that it is
not a whole number. It is a part of a
number. We use decimals most often
when we are talking about money.

$13.45
How would you read this number?

$13.45
Thirteen dollars and forty five cents.
Remember:
You do not need to use the when your
money amount is greater than $1.

What does the .45 mean?


.45 is the same thing as saying 45 . It
means that it is only a part of a dollar. It
is not the whole dollar. We still need
more to get the whole thing.

Why do I have to understand


decimals?
This is a good question. We need to
understand what the value of each
number means in order to understand
what we are talking about. Here is an
example:
A shirt costs $12.05, but when I wrote the
number down I wrote $12.5. What is
wrong with this?

Why is $12.5 wrong?


$12.5 really is saying $12.50, because
when we read how much something costs
it always has two places after the decimal
point. If we dont have a number after the
first number we must assume it is a zero.
However, when we read $12.05, the zero
is the place holder so we know it is 5 and
not 50. That is a 45 difference. I can
get a piece of gum for that amount!

Lets Look at Some Place Value


One
Hundred
Dollars

Ten
Dollars

One
Dollar

Ten
Cents

Cents

Hundreds Tens

Ones

Tenths Hundredths

How do I read a decimal?


If you look at the number 12.3, you say 12
and 3 tenths.
If you look at the number and it says 12.35,
you say 12 and 35 hundredths.
If you look at a number and it says 12.05,
you say 12 and 5 hundredths.
Now you practice saying them!

Lets Write this in Expanded


Notation
If we are using money, it would look
like this:
$100 + $30 + $7 + 80 + 2 = $137.82

If we are not using money, it would


look like this:
100 + 30 + 7 + .8 + .02 = 137.82

How do I know how large a decimal


is?
If you see two numbers that are decimals, one
says 7.3 and the other says 7.003, you look at
how many places the number that is longer has.
You make both numbers the same length by
adding zeros to the end of the shorter number.
So the numbers read:
7.300 or 7.003
Now when you look at the number you can see
which is larger: 7.300

Which is larger?
4.5
1) 4.5 or 4.05
Because 4.5 equals 4.50, 50 is larger than 5
2) 6.003 or 6.3 6.3
Because 6.3 equals 6.300, 300 is larger
than 3
3) 5.012 or 5.12 5.12
Because 5.12 equals 5.120, 120 is larger
than 12

When else do we use decimals?


Weight (He weighed 85.5 lbs)
Temperature (It was so cold today, it was
only 43.7)
Measuring distances (example, the race
was a 5 K, but since I dont understand
kilometers, I changed it to miles and saw
that the race was 3.1 Miles long)
Can you think of any other times?

Now is the time to ask


as many questions as
you need!

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