Problem 53 - Prealgebra

Question

Buying a Car Jorge bought a car for $24,493. Round the price to the nearest: a. ten dollars b. hundred dollars c. thousand dollars d. ten-thousand dollars

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

a. 24,490 b. 24,500 c. 24,000 d. 20,000

Step 1: Round to the nearest ten dollars

Look at the units digit of the number 24,493, which is 3. Since 3 is less than 5, round down the tens place (9). Thus, the number remains 24,490.

Step 2: Round to the nearest hundred dollars

Look at the tens digit of the number 24,493, which is 9. Since 9 is 5 or greater, round up the hundreds place (4) to 5. Thus, the number becomes 24,500.

Step 3: Round to the nearest thousand dollars

Look at the hundreds digit of the number 24,493, which is 4. Since 4 is less than 5, round down the thousands place (4). Thus, the number remains 24,000.

Step 4: Round to the nearest ten-thousand dollars

Look at the thousands digit of the number 24,493, which is 2. Since 2 is less than 5, round down the ten-thousands place. Thus, the number becomes 20,000.

Key Concepts

Rounding to Nearest Ten

Rounding a number to the nearest ten means finding the closest multiple of ten.
To do this, look at the units digit of the number.
For instance, in the number 24,493, the units digit is 3.
When the units digit is less than 5, round down by changing the units digit to 0.
Therefore, 24,493 rounded to the nearest ten is 24,490.

Rounding to Nearest Hundred

Rounding to the nearest hundred means finding the closest multiple of 100.
Examine the tens digit to round off to the nearest hundred.
With 24,493, the tens digit is 9.
If the tens digit is 5 or more, round up by increasing the hundreds place by one and changing the tens and units digits to 0.
For example, 24,493 becomes 24,500 when rounded to the nearest hundred.

Rounding to Nearest Thousand

When rounding to the nearest thousand, you look at the hundreds digit.
Your goal is to find the closest multiple of 1,000.
If the hundreds digit is less than 5, round down by changing the hundreds, tens, and units digits to 0.
For the number 24,493, the hundreds digit is 4, so you round down.
Therefore, 24,493 becomes 24,000 when rounded to the nearest thousand.

Rounding to Nearest Ten-Thousand

To round a number to the nearest ten-thousand, focus on the thousands digit.
This helps you find the nearest multiple of 10,000.
For 24,493, the thousands digit is 2.
If the thousands digit is less than 5, round down by turning the thousands, hundreds, tens, and units digits to 0.
So, when the number 24,493 is rounded to the nearest ten-thousand, it becomes 20,000.