The process you are describing is known as rounding. Rounding involves modifying a number to its nearest specified place value, such as the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, or decimal place. This reduces the precision of the number, making it easier to work with while still providing a close approximation.
Here’s a brief overview of how rounding works:
- Identify the place value to which you want to round (e.g., nearest ten, hundred, or decimal).
- Look at the digit immediately to the right of the place value you are rounding to.
- Apply the rounding rules:
- If that digit is 5 or greater, you increase the digit in the place value you are rounding to by one.
- If that digit is less than 5, you leave the digit in the place value as is and change all digits to the right of it to zero (for whole numbers) or remove them (for decimals).
Examples:
- Rounding 76 to the nearest ten: The digit in the tens place is 7, and the digit to the right (in the ones place) is 6. Since 6 is greater than 5, we round up to 80.
- Rounding 3.14159 to the nearest hundredth: The digit in the hundredths place is 4, and the digit to the right (the thousandths place) is 1. Since 1 is less than 5, we round down to 3.14.
Rounding can be useful in various contexts, from simplifying calculations to presenting data in a more digestible form.