The following lessons provide a basic understanding of decimal numbers.
MATH MILESTONE #B6: DECIMAL NUMBERS
A “division” or “ratio” notation is not the only notation possible to express fractions. We may use the place values to the right of ONE to account for fractions. Since the successive place values change by TENS, we call such numbers the DECIMAL NUMBERS.
The place values successively magnify by TENS as one moves to the left. And, the place values successively shrink by a TENS as one moves to the right. Thus, to the right of ONES we have, tenths, hundredths, thousandths, and so on. With these fractional place values we may express fractions to a desired accuracy.
The DECIMAL POINT is used in a decimal to separate the fractional portion. Thus, it appears to the right of the place value of ONE in the number. It is this decimal notation that we use on calculators and computers.
Computation with decimals follows the same procedure as with the whole numbers. The only additional requirement is keeping the track of the position of the decimal point.
In short, the decimals are a natural extension of the existing whole number system to account for the fractions.
Here are some videos on decimal numbers from Khan Academy.
Converting fractions to decimals
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