Two decimal places are used here; however, your instructor might require more or fewer, so pay attention to directions. When rounding to two decimal places, you should look at the number in the third decimal place to decide whether you will round up or whether you will truncate. When the number in the third (thousandths) position is 5 or greater, you should round the number in the second (hundredths) position up. When the number in the thousandths position is 4 or less, you should truncate. The diagram below shows these positions pictorially.
Examples:
.506 rounded to two decimal places = .51.632 rounded to two decimal places = .63
.50 + .70 = 1.20 (.42)(.80) = .336 ≈.34 = 3.742 ≈ 3.74 = (1.33)5 = 6.65
Try the following as practice.
1. .50 + .55 =
2. 3. 2.23 − .34 =
4. 5. 1 − .66 = 6. (.20)(.80) =
7.
8. = 9. Round this number to two decimal places: .605
10. Round this number to two decimal places: .098
If these operations all looked familiar to you and you were able to do them with little or no difficulty, then you are ready for the course! If you struggled with them, you should speak with your course instructor regarding recommendations and options.