5.196 Rounded to the Nearest Hundredth: A Simple Guide
Rounding numbers is a fundamental skill in mathematics, crucial for everyday life and various fields like science, engineering, and finance. This guide explains how to round 5.196 to the nearest hundredth, and provides a broader understanding of the rounding process.
Understanding Hundredths
Before we begin, let's clarify what a hundredth is. In the decimal system, the place values to the right of the decimal point are tenths, hundredths, thousandths, and so on. In the number 5.196:
- 5 is in the ones place.
- 1 is in the tenths place.
- 9 is in the hundredths place.
- 6 is in the thousandths place.
We are asked to round to the nearest hundredth, meaning we need to consider the digit in the hundredths place (9) and the digit in the thousandths place (6).
The Rounding Process
The rule for rounding is straightforward:
- If the digit to the right of the target place is 5 or greater, round up.
- If the digit to the right of the target place is less than 5, round down.
In our case, the target place is the hundredths place (9), and the digit to its right (in the thousandths place) is 6. Since 6 is greater than 5, we round up.
Rounding 5.196
Following the rounding rule:
- Identify the target digit: The digit in the hundredths place is 9.
- Look at the digit to the right: The digit in the thousandths place is 6.
- Apply the rule: Since 6 is greater than 5, we round the 9 up. This means 9 becomes 10. Since we can't have a '10' in a single digit place, we carry-over the 1 to the tenths place.
Therefore, 5.196 rounded to the nearest hundredth is 5.20. Note that we retain the zero in the hundredths place as a placeholder to indicate the precision to the nearest hundredth.
Practical Applications
Rounding is used extensively in various situations:
- Money: Prices are often rounded to the nearest cent (hundredth of a dollar).
- Measurements: Scientific measurements are often rounded to a specific level of precision.
- Statistics: Data analysis frequently involves rounding numbers for clarity and simplification.
Understanding rounding is a valuable skill that improves accuracy and efficiency in many numerical tasks. By mastering this simple process, you can confidently handle rounding in various contexts.
