Activity (Process)

Procedure for Rounding Decimals

To round a decimal to a specified place value, follow four steps:

  1. Locate the digit in the target place value and mark it.
  2. Examine the digit immediately to the right of the target place.
  3. Decide — if that digit is 55 or greater, add 11 to the digit in the target place; if it is less than 55, leave the target-place digit unchanged.
  4. Rewrite the number, deleting all digits to the right of the target place.

This procedure mirrors the one used for rounding whole numbers, with one key difference in the final step: instead of replacing digits to the right with zeros (as with whole numbers), those digits are simply removed. Trailing zeros after the last nonzero decimal digit do not change a decimal's value, so they are unnecessary in the rounded result.

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Updated 2026-04-21

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