Rounding

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Rounding means reducing the digits in a number while trying to keep its value similar. The result is less accurate, but easier to use. This is the common method * Decide which is the last digit to keep * Increase it by 1 if the ne t digit is ! or more "this is called rounding up# * $eave it the same if the ne t digit is less than ! "this is called rounding down# % ample& '() rounded to the nearest ten is '(* "because ) is less than !# R+$%, -.R R.+/DI/0 .-"1 more statistical approach#

I. 2hen the first digit of those to be dropped is less than !, leave the preceding digit unchanged. % . The number !3.4(5 rounded off to the nearest *.1 becomes !3.4. II. If the first digit of those to be dropped is greater than !, raise the preceding digit by 1. % . The number '.1(3 rounded off to the nearest *.*1 becomes '.1!. III. If the first digit of those to be dropped is ! and& a. If any non6ero digits follow the !, raise the preceding digit by 1. % . The number '1.(!*1 rounded off to the nearest *.1 becomes '1.!. b. If no non6ero digits follow the ! and 1. the preceding digit is odd, raise the preceding digit by 1.

% . The number '1.)!* rounded off to the nearest *.1 becomes '1.(. '. the preceding digit is even, leave the preceding digit unchanged. % . The number '1.(! rounded off to the nearest *.1 becomes '1.(.

Rounding /umbers 1 rounded number has about the same value as the number you start with, but it is less e act.

-or e ample, )(1 rounded to the nearest hundred is )**. That is because )(1 is closer in value to )** than to (**. 2hen rounding off to the nearest dollar, 71.58 becomes 7'.**, because 71.58 is closer to 7'.** than to 71.** Rules for Rounding 9ere:s the general rule for rounding& ; If the number you are rounding is followed by !, 3, 4, 5, or 8, round the number up. % ample& )5 rounded to the nearest ten is (*1 ; If the number you are rounding is followed by *, 1, ', ), or (, round the number down. % ample& )) rounded to the nearest ten is )* 2hat 1re <ou Rounding to= 2hen rounding a number, you first need to ask& what are you rounding it to= /umbers can be rounded to the nearest ten, the nearest hundred, the nearest thousand, and so on. >onsider the number (,5'4.

; (,5'4 rounded to the nearest ten is (,5)* ; (,5'4 rounded to the nearest hundred is (,5** ; (,5'4 rounded to the nearest thousand is !,*** 1ll the numbers to the right of the place you are rounding to become 6eros. 9ere are some more e amples& ; )( rounded to the nearest ten is )* ; 3,5*8 rounded to the nearest hundred is 3,5** ; 1,8!1 rounded to the nearest thousand is ',*** Rounding and -ractions Rounding fractions works e actly the same way as rounding whole numbers. The only difference is that instead of rounding to tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on, you round to tenths, hundredths, thousandths, and so on. ; 4.5188 rounded to the nearest tenth is 4.5 ; 1.*3'1 rounded to the nearest hundredth is 1.*3 ; ).548' rounded to the nearest thousandth is ).548 9ere:s a tip& to avoid getting confused in rounding long decimals, look only at the number in the place you are rounding to and the number that follows it. -or e ample, to round !.)5'(481(*1 to the nearest hundredth, ?ust look at the number in the hundredths place@ 5@and the number that follows it@'. Then you can easily round it to !.)5. Rounding and ,ums Rounding can make sums easy. -or e ample, at a grocery store you might pick up items with the following prices& ; 7'.'! ; 7*.55 ; 7'.38 If you wanted to know about how much they would cost, you could add up the prices with a pen and paper, or try to add them in your head. .r you could do it the simple way @you could estimate by rounding off to the nearest dollar, like this& ; 7'.**

; 71.** ; 7).** Ay rounding off, you could easily figure out that you would need about 73.** to pay for your groceries. This is pretty close to the e act number of 7!.5'. 1s you can see, in finding a round sum, it is Buickest to round the numbers before adding them. 1. ,ome statisticians prefer to round ! to the nearest even number. 1s a result, about half of the time ! will be rounded up, and about half of the time it will be rounded down. In this way, '3.! rounded to the nearest even number would be '3@it would be rounded down. 1nd, 44.! rounded to the nearest even number would be 45@it would be rounded up.