What does it mean to find something to the nearest tenth?

Answer 1

When we describe numbers to the nearest tenth, we describe them in terms of units of ten. Take the number 145. Here, the unit of ten is the 'forty' (145). In the number 372, the unit of ten is the seventy (372).

To round a number to the nearest tenth, what one has to do is look at the 'units' part of the number- that is the digit at the end of the number. In our examples, these units are 5 and 2 respectively. (145 and 372)

If this unit number is 4 or below, we don't round up the number in the tens column. If the unit number is 5 or above, we round up the number in the tens column. So, our examples to the nearest ten are 150 and 370. I've put some more examples below;

13276 to the nearest ten is 13280

24 to the nearest ten is 20

47253849 to the nearest ten is 47253850