To round 2.143 to the nearest hundredth, you look at the digit in the thousandths place, which is the third digit to the right of the decimal point. In this case, the number is:
- 2.143
- The hundredths place is the second digit after the decimal (4).
- The thousandths place is the third digit after the decimal (3).
Since the digit in the thousandths place (3) is less than 5, you do not round up the digit in the hundredths place. Therefore, you keep the hundredths digit (4) as it is.
So, 2.143 rounded to the nearest hundredth is 2.14.