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This relates back to place values. In the non-decimal side of a number (we'll use 123.456 as an example) the one is in the hundreds place, the 2 is in the tens place, and the 3 is in the one's place. Notice that hundreds, tens and 1 are all a power of ten. 100 is 10^2. 10 is 10^1 and 1 is 10^0. Once you pass the decimal place, you go into the negative exponent. So the next place into the decimal place is 10^-1 which is the same as 1/10 which is also known as a tenth.

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Q: Why is the first decimal place called tenths?
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