How to Round to the Nearest Tenth

In the number 12.389, the first number to the right of the decimal place is the tenths place. In this case, the tenths place is occupied by the number 3.

To round to the nearest tenth, we look at the number just to the right of the tenths place, called the hundredths place. In the number 12.389, the hundredths place is occupied by 8.

If the hundredths place is 5 or higher, we round the tenths place up and chop off the number after the tenths place. If it is under 5, we round down to the current tenths place number and chop off the number after the tenths place.

For the number 12.389, the hundredths place is 8 so we round the tenths place up from 3 to 4, and then chop off after that place so we end up with 12.4.

Round to the Nearest Tenth Example Problems

Let's go through a couple of example problems together to practice rounding numbers to the nearest tenth.

Example Problem 1

Round 18.64 to the nearest tenth.

Solution:

1. Since the hundredths place is a 4, we round down.
2. The final answer is 18.6.

Example Problem 2

Round 6.952 to the nearest tenth.

Solution:

1. Since the hundredths place is 5, we round the tenths place up. However, the tenths place is 9 and rounding up will be 10. So, we actually round the ones place up from 6 to 7. The tenths place becomes 0.
2. The final answer is 7.0.