When you think about the word "decimal," you
might think about a dot. This dot is called
a decimal point, and it separates parts of
a whole number from the whole number. These
parts are called decimals. A decimal is a
number less than 1. Whole numbers -- also
called units -- are greater than or equal
to 1.
The decimal point basically signifies
"and" as a way to separate these two different
kinds of numbers. Decimals are found to the
right of the decimal point, and units are
found to the left of the decimal point. If
you want to write out four whole units and
12 decimal parts, it would look like this.
You can read this as "four point one two"
or as "four and twelve one-hundredths."
The decimal number system is based on preceding
powers of 10. This means it's a series of
numbers where each number is ten times bigger
or smaller than the last. If we move to the
left of the decimal point, each position is
10 times bigger. If we move to the right,
each position is 10 times smaller.
When we encounter decimals in everyday
life,
from money to distance to time, we
usually only take into account the tenths
and hundredths place values.
And now you know how to work with decimals!
