Definition
Decimal
A decimal is a base-ten numeral with place values such as tenths, hundredths, and thousandths.
Continue from this idea into connected AXIO math.
Boundary check: The decimal point separates ones from tenths; it is not a thousands separator.
What it means
Read the digits by their places. In 4.37, the 4 is four ones, the 3 is three tenths, and the 7 is seven hundredths. Moving one place left makes a place value ten times as large; moving one place right makes it one tenth as large.
Remember it
The point is the gate: ones on the left, tenths begin on the right.
Example
In 2.46, the 2 means 2 ones, the 4 means 4 tenths, and the 6 means 6 hundredths. Therefore 2.46 = 2 + 4/10 + 6/100.
Watch for
The decimal point is not a thousands separator; it marks the boundary between the ones place and fractional place values.
Common mix-up
The decimals 0.5 and 0.50 have the same value because the added zero means zero hundredths. The decimal 0.05 is different because the 5 is in the hundredths place.
Exact meaning
A decimal is a base-ten numeral in which each digit has a place value ten times the place to its right; a decimal point separates the ones place from tenths, hundredths, and smaller places.