Decimals

As with fractions, decimals are a way of expressing parts of a whole thing. Decimals are used extensively in business applications. In this course, you will learn to read, write, and work problems involving all types of decimal numbers. By definition, decimal numbers, or decimals, are amounts less than whole, or less than one. Often decimals are written in conjunction with whole numbers. These are known as mixed decimals. To read or write decimal numbers in words, you must read or write the decimal part as if it were a whole number, then name the place value of the last digit on the right. In reading and writing mixed decimals, the decimal point should be read as “and.” For monetary amounts, we round to the nearest cent, or hundredth place. For other business applications, we usually do not go beyond thousandths as a final answer. In adding and subtracting decimals, we follow the same procedure as we did with whole numbers. As before, be sure that you line up all the place values, including the decimal points. When adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing decimals, numbers should not be rounded until the final answer— unless you are estimating. If the situation involves money, final answers should be rounded to the nearest cent.