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Grade 5 · Maths · Lessons
Rounding a decimal
•point📍place👉next door⬆️round up
Round a decimal.
The big ideaFind the place. The digit next door decides. Five or more goes up.

How it works

Find the place. The digit next door decides.

Five or more goes up. Less than five stays.

Rounding 6.9 to the nearest whole number gives 7.

676.9 is near67
6.9 is closer to 7 than to 6.

Example 1: Round up

  1. Round 6.9 to the nearest whole number: ?
  2. Look at the tenths digit: 9.
  3. 9 is 5 or more, so round up to 7.
  4. So the answer is 7.

Example 2: Round down

  1. Round 2.03 to the nearest whole number: ?
  2. Look at the tenths digit: 0.
  3. 0 is less than 5, so stay at 2.
  4. So the answer is 2.

Example 3: Stay

  1. Round 7.14 to the nearest whole number: ?
  2. Look at the tenths digit: 1.
  3. 1 is less than 5, so stay at 7.
  4. So the answer is 7.

Words to know

round
To change to a nearby friendly number.
nearest whole number
The whole number closest to the decimal.

Watch out

Try it

  1. Round 2.129 to the nearest hundredth: ?
  2. Round 5.337 to the nearest hundredth: ?
  3. Round 3.356 to the nearest hundredth: ?
Answers: 1. 2.13 · 2. 5.34 · 3. 3.36
For grown-upsRound prices like $6.90 to the nearest dollar when shopping.
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