Comparing decimals, step by step
Comparing decimals catches the classic trap — thinking 0.45 is bigger than 0.5 because it has more digits.
The question
3.4 ? 3.40
3.4?3.40
3.40?3.40
3.40?3.40
340 hundredths=340 hundredths
3.4=3.40
- These count different sized pieces — one is in bigger pieces and the other is not. Longer does NOT mean bigger with decimals, so the first job is to make the pieces match.
- Write a zero on the end of the shorter one. 3.4 is the same amount as 3.40 — a zero on the END of a decimal changes nothing.
- Now they are both hundredths: 340 against 340. The same. So 3.4 = 3.40.
How it works.
- 01
These count different sized pieces — one is in bigger pieces and the other is not. Longer does NOT mean bigger with decimals, so the first job is to make the pieces match.
- 02
Write a zero on the end of the shorter one. 3.4 is the same amount as 3.40 — a zero on the END of a decimal changes nothing.
- 03
Now they are both hundredths: 340 against 340. The same. So 3.4 = 3.40.