Name: ____________________________Date: ___________________________
Class: Developing College Math Skills
Objective: We will read, write, convert, and compare decimals by completing pages 62-67 and
70.
Understanding Decimals
*Notice how similar the names are on each side of the decimal point.
*The ths at the end of each decimal place name means that the value of a digit in these places is a
fraction of one unit or one whole
Example 1: In the decimal .135, which digit is in the thousandths place?
Example 2: What is the value of the digit 3 in the decimal 0.135?
*A number with digits on both sides of the decimal point is called a mixed decimal.
Example 3: In the number 19.64, which digits are in the decimal places?
Reading Decimals
• To read a decimal, first read it as though it were a whole number.
• Then give it a decimal name according to the number of decimal places.
• Remember, the number of places to the right of the decimal point tells you the decimal
name.
Notes 62-67 & 70--Decimal ConversionsPage 1 of 3
Examples:
Decimal
.06
.0042
Number of Decimal Places
Words
7.003
19.5
Writing Decimals
*To write decimals from words, be sure that you have the correct number of decimal places. Use
zeros to hold places where necessary.
*The word and separates whole numbers from decimal fractions in mixed decimals.
Examples:
Words
Eight hundredths
Number of Decimal Places
Decimal
Thirty-six thousandths
Fifty-one millionths
Twelve and nine tenths
Getting Rid of Unnecessary Zeros
Think about the zeros in the number 020.060 and decide whether each zero is necessary. The
number is twenty and six hundredths or twenty and sixty thousandths.
•
•
•
•
The zero left of the digit 2
The zero right of the digit 2
The zero left of the digit 6
The zero right of the digit 6
Changing Decimals to Fractions
• To change a decimal to a fraction (or to change a mixed decimal to a mixed number),
write the digits in the decimal as the numerator.
• Write the denominator according to the number of decimal places.
• Then reduce the fraction
Example 1: Write .24 as a common fraction.
Example 2: Write 9.015 as a mixed number.
Notes 62-67 & 70--Decimal ConversionsPage 2 of 3
Comparing Decimals
• When you look at a group of fractions, it is sometimes difficult to tell which decimal is
the largest.
• To compare decimals, give each decimal the same number of places by adding zeros (just
like giving each decimal fraction a common denominator)
Example 1: Which is larger, 0.07 or 0.2?
Example 2: Arrange the following list of decimals in order from smallest to largest:
0.8, 0.08, 0.088, 0.808
Rounding Decimals
• To round a decimal, do the following steps:
o Step 1: Underline the digit in the place you are rounding to.
o Step 2:
a. If the digit to the right of the underlined digit is greater than or equal to
5, add 1 to the underlined digit.
b. If the digit to the right of the underlined digit is less than 5, leave the
underlined digit as is.
Drop all the digits to the right of the underlined digit.
Example 1: Round 2.38 to the nearest tenth
Example 2: Round 0.1627 to the nearest hundredth
Example 3: Round 3.00964 to the nearest thousandth.
Notes 62-67 & 70--Decimal ConversionsPage 3 of 3