Round to a Named Place

Round to a Named Place

Rounding makes a whole number easier to read while keeping it close to the original value. The named place tells you which digit stays important: tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-thousands, or millions.

Steps

1. Find the named place in the number.
2. Look at the digit immediately to its right. This is the deciding digit.
3. If the deciding digit is 5 or more, increase the named-place digit by 1.
4. If the deciding digit is 4 or less, keep the named-place digit the same.
5. Change every digit to the right of the named place to zero.

Example idea

To round 47,382 to the thousands place:

• The thousands digit is 7.
• Look at the hundreds digit, which is 3.
• Since 3 is less than 5, keep 7 the same.
• Replace the digits to the right with zeros: 47,000.

Check your work

Your answer should be easier to say and write than the original number, and it should be close to it. Make sure only the digits to the right of the named place became zero.