Round Decimals to a Named Place

Rounding a Decimal to a Named Place

Rounding means replacing a decimal with a nearby value that keeps only the requested place value, such as the tenths, hundredths, or thousandths place. The digit in the place you are rounding to stays the same or increases by 1 depending on the digit just to its right.

Method

1. Find the named place.
   Identify which digit you must keep.
2. Look one digit to the right.
   This digit tells you whether to round up or keep the digit the same.
3. Use the rounding rule.
   • If the next digit is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, keep the named digit the same.
   • If the next digit is 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, increase the named digit by 1.
4. Rewrite the number.
   Remove the digits after the rounded place, or replace them with zeros if needed to show the place clearly.

Check your answer

Make sure the rounded number is reasonable and is close to the original number. It should have fewer digits after the decimal point, and the kept digit should match the rounding rule.

Example idea

If you round to the hundredths place, keep the second digit after the decimal and check the third digit to decide whether to round up.