Decimals
How we use it
Expanded Form
We can write the whole number 159 in expanded form as follows: 159 = (1 x 100) + (5 x 10) + (9 x 1). Decimals can also be written in expanded form. Expanded form is a way to write numbers by showing the value of each digit. This is shown in the example below.
Why we use them
Decimals are used in situations which require more precision than whole numbers can provide. A good example of this is money: Three and one-fourth dollars is an amount between 3 dollars and 4 dollars. We use decimals to write this amount as $3.25.
A decimal may have both a whole-number part and a fractional part. The whole-number part of a decimal are those digits to the left of the decimal point. The fractional part of a decimal is represented by the digits to the right of the decimal point. The decimal point is used to separate these parts. Let's look at some examples of this.