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The Basics of Decimal Numbers
When we think of numbers, we usually think of integers – whole numbers that can be positive, negative or zero. However, there’s another type of number that’s just as important: decimals. Decimals are numbers that have a decimal point, which separates the whole number from its fractional part. For example, 72 can be written as a decimal by adding a decimal point and a zero at the end: 72.0.
What is a Decimal?
A decimal is a way of representing a fraction with a denominator that is a power of 10. The decimal point separates the whole number from its fractional part, which is expressed as a series of digits to the right of the decimal point. The number to the left of the decimal point is the whole number, while the numbers to the right represent fractions of the whole number.
Converting Fractions to Decimals
One of the most common uses of decimals is to represent fractions. To convert a fraction to a decimal, you simply divide the numerator by the denominator. For example, 3/4 can be written as a decimal by dividing 3 by 4: 0.75.
72 as a Decimal
Now let’s look at 72 as a decimal. As we mentioned earlier, 72 can be written as 72.0. However, this is not the only way to write 72 as a decimal. In fact, there are many different ways to represent 72 as a decimal, depending on how many decimal places you want to include.
Writing 72 as a Decimal with One Decimal Place
If we want to write 72 as a decimal with one decimal place, we need to round the number to the nearest tenth. To do this, we look at the digit in the second decimal place (which is a 0), and if it’s 5 or greater, we round up. In this case, since the digit is 0, we simply drop the decimal places and write 72 as 72.0.
Writing 72 as a Decimal with Two Decimal Places
If we want to write 72 as a decimal with two decimal places, we need to round the number to the nearest hundredth. To do this, we look at the digit in the third decimal place (which is also a 0), and again, since it’s not 5 or greater, we simply drop the decimal places and write 72 as 72.00.
Writing 72 as a Decimal with Three Decimal Places
If we want to write 72 as a decimal with three decimal places, we need to round the number to the nearest thousandth. To do this, we look at the digit in the fourth decimal place (which is still a 0), and again, since it’s not 5 or greater, we simply drop the decimal places and write 72 as 72.000.
Writing 72 as a Decimal with Many Decimal Places
We can continue this process of rounding to include as many decimal places as we want. For example, if we want to write 72 as a decimal with ten decimal places, we would write 72.0000000000.
Real Life Applications of Decimals
Decimals are used in many real-life applications, such as measuring time, money, and distance. For example, when we measure time, we often use decimals to represent fractions of an hour or minute. When we measure money, we use decimals to represent fractions of a dollar. When we measure distance, we use decimals to represent fractions of a meter or a mile.
Time
For example, if we work for 2 and a half hours, we can represent this as 2.5 hours. Similarly, if we want to know what time it is halfway between 2:00 and 3:00, we can calculate that it’s 2:30 – which is 2.5 hours past 12:00.
Money
When we go shopping, we often use decimals to represent the price of items. For example, if a shirt costs $19.99, we can represent this as 19.99 dollars. Similarly, if we receive a discount of 20%, we can calculate the new price by multiplying the original price by 0.8 (or 0.2 less than 1).
Distance
When we travel, we often use decimals to represent distances. For example, if we drive 3 and a half miles, we can represent this as 3.5 miles. Similarly, if we want to know how far we’ve traveled if we’ve gone halfway between two cities that are 100 miles apart, we can calculate that we’ve traveled 50 miles – which is half of 100 miles.
Conclusion
In conclusion, decimals are an important part of our everyday lives, and understanding how they work can be very useful. We’ve explored 72 as a decimal and looked at different ways of representing it with different numbers of decimal places. We’ve also seen how decimals are used in measuring time, money, and distance, and how they can help us solve real-life problems. So next time you encounter a decimal, don’t be intimidated – embrace it!
