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Tenths and hundredths worksheets

Three tenths plus four hundredths is thirty-four hundredths, and the whole of that sentence is one move: rewrite the tenths as hundredths first. These free printable worksheets ask for exactly that move and nothing else, which is what makes them the step between naming a fraction and adding two of any kind.

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Tenths and hundredths
Tenths and hundredths worksheet — Answers over 100, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

The two denominators are always 10 and 100, and they are never anything else. That looks like a restriction and it is the point: a tenth IS ten hundredths, so the conversion is a fact about place value rather than a search for a common denominator. A child who can see 3/10 as 30/100 has understood what the bottom number does, and the general method — find a denominator both will go into — is a grade later and much easier once this is in place.

Why this sheet works

Answers stay over 100 and are not simplified, which is the one place these sheets differ from every other fraction page here. 34/100 and 17/50 are the same number and only one of them says what the answer IS: thirty-four hundredths, which is 0.34, which is what the next standard turns it into. Simplifying at this stage throws the place value away, so the instruction on the sheet says so out loud and the answer key prints hundredths every time.

How this one works

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  1. Tenths and 100ths are different sizes of piece. Two different sizes cannot be counted as one total — that is the whole difficulty here.
  2. Both can be cut into 100ths: 10 goes into 100, and so does 100. So 100 is the size to use.
  3. 1/10 is the same amount as 10/100, and 6/100 is the same amount as 6/100. Nothing has got bigger — the pieces just got smaller and there are more of them.
  4. Now they are the same size, so count them: 10 + 6 = 16, giving 16/100.
  5. 16/100 written in the biggest pieces it will go into is 16/100.

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