2006-06-19 10:18:02 · 11 answers · asked by Mark H 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
If there is one period in front of the number, then it is a decimal point. Decimals work a lot like the places in whole numbers, except they are for numbers smaller than one.
Example 121=100+20+1
now lets say you want to add 1/2 to it.
You could write 121 1/2
Or since 1/2=5/10, you can write 121.5
You can write any fraction as a decimal, except sometimes you can't write it exactly.
1/3=3/10+3/100+3/1000 and this continues forever.
so in decimals you just write as many places as you think you need. Sometimes a bar is written over the part that repeats, to tell you that.
By writing numbers like this, we can add them together just as we usually do, as long as we line up the decimal points.
Zeros are needed just like they are for placeholders, away from the decimal point.
There are also rules for the multiplication, and the other operations too.
But I can't write the rules nicely here.
2006-06-19 11:15:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a decimal point, which means the number is a decimal. A decimal is a part of a number (or a fraction) a number like .75 is a decimal. it eguals 3/4 of a whole number. another example would be 1.5 which would be 1 and half of a number so it is 1 1/2. i hope that helped
2006-06-19 18:31:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like, for example .25?
It means it is a percentage, a part of a whole (a whole being 100%). The decimal I gave could also be written 25/100 (reduced to 1/4 because 25 will go into 100 four times), 1:4 (a ratio like 1 part is to 4 parts...), or 25%.
I hope this helped.
2006-06-19 17:24:41 · answer #3 · answered by Izzpuppy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the "." means it is a decimal which can be represented as a fraction. such as 1.25 that means that the number is 1 1/4 we commonly use decimals to denote money values we say the total is a dollar and 25 cents not a dollar and 1/4 of a dollar.
2006-06-19 17:38:16 · answer #4 · answered by ♥ The One You Love To Hate♥ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1/3 =.33333...
the period is 1, because after one digit you have repeat.
1/37 = .027027027... .The period is 3
1/7 = .142857142857... . The period is 6
Period can be a dot.
.5 is an abbreviation of 0.5
So the digits after the period is the fractional part of the number.
2006-06-19 17:23:17 · answer #5 · answered by Thermo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is called a decimal point. It designates a number as a 10th, 100th, 1000th...and so on of a whole number. For instance if something costs 2.99...it is 2 dollars and 99 cents....ninty-nine hundredths of one dollar.
2006-06-19 17:22:17 · answer #6 · answered by Hula Girl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means it's a female number.
2006-06-19 18:45:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
in the US usually it means that the number is a decimal, a fraction.
But in other countries, they sometimes use periods where we use commas.
2006-06-19 17:22:57 · answer #8 · answered by nickipettis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depends on where you live (or where your book was published), and the context for the periods. Can you give us an example?
2006-06-19 17:21:12 · answer #9 · answered by Jay H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its that time of the month for the number.
2006-06-19 20:42:26 · answer #10 · answered by James P 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋