There are an infinite number of decimal place values. Last year, a Japanese team,
using a supercomputer, calculated the value of "pi" out to 4 trillion decimal places.
The first seven places after the decimal point are:
tenths
hundredths
thousandths
ten-thousandths
hundred-thousandths
millionths
ten-millionths
0.37 The 3 is in the tenths place, the 7 is in the hundredths place.
a European mathematician did it two or three centuries ago. before then they used fractions instead of decimals.
Represent numerical values.
Seven hundreths is 0.07
No ones or units, no tenths but seven hundredths = 7/100
0.37 The 3 is in the tenths place, the 7 is in the hundredths place.
Align the numbers according their place values. Go from left to right (decreasing place values) until the face values of the numbers are different. Then the number with the larger face value in that place is the larger number.
a European mathematician did it two or three centuries ago. before then they used fractions instead of decimals.
By doing this it aligns all the place values so you can clearly add or subtract the correct place values and get a correct answer. You might say it is an organization technique. Of course if you use a calculator, this is not necessary.
Represent numerical values.
To show values less than 1.
Seven hundreths is 0.07
No ones or units, no tenths but seven hundredths = 7/100
Decimals until you get to values with over nine decimal places, then fractions are more exact
7.009
The fundamental principal of decimal numbers is that the place value of any digit is ten times that of the place value of the digit to its right. Coventionally, place values with negative and non-negative powers of ten are separated by the decimal point.
7.18