Rounding Numbers – Academic Notes
When rounding, it is important to know what you are rounding to:
- Decimal places (dp)
- Place value (nearest 10, 100, 1000, tenths, hundredths, etc.)
- Significant figures (s.f.)
1. Rounding to Decimal Places (dp)
- Decimal places refer to the number of digits after the decimal point.
- The rounding digit is the last digit kept; the digit after it decides whether we round up or keep the
same.
Example: Round 23.678
- To 1 dp → 23.7
- To 2 dp → 23.68
- To 3 dp → 23.678
2. Rounding to a Place Value
- Place value refers to the position of a digit (ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and also tenths,
hundredths, thousandths).
- When rounding to a place value, digits after the chosen place are removed or adjusted.
Example A: Integers – Round 12,345
- Nearest 10 → 12,350
- Nearest 100 → 12,300
- Nearest 1,000 → 12,000
- Nearest 10,000 → 10,000
Example B: Decimals – Round 56.237
- Nearest unit (ones) → 56
- Nearest tenth → 56.2
- Nearest hundredth → 56.24
- Nearest thousandth → 56.237
3. Rounding to Significant Figures (s.f.)
- Significant figures count the important digits in a number, starting with the first non-zero digit.
- The number is rounded so that only the required number of significant digits remain.
Example A: Integers – Round 12,345
- 1 s.f. → 10,000
- 2 s.f. → 12,000
- 3 s.f. → 12,300
- 4 s.f. → 12,350
- 5 s.f. → 12,345
Example B: Decimals – Round 0.004562
- 1 s.f. → 0.005
- 2 s.f. → 0.0046
- 3 s.f. → 0.00456
Key Distinctions
- Decimal places → control the number of digits after the decimal point.
- Place value → round to a specific position (tens, hundreds, tenths, hundredths, etc.).
- Significant figures → keep a chosen number of meaningful digits.
