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Comparing Decimals

Introduction

Comparing decimals is simply the process of looking at two decimal numbers and figuring out if one is larger, smaller or equal as compared to the other. The notation used to denote these relationships are >,< or =.

Terms

Comparison - evaluating two numbers to determine the relationship between them.
Decimal - A number greater than any whole number.

Lesson

Comparing decimals is made considerably easier by comparing each of the values in the tenths, hundredths, thousandths … place. So if we are given 1.201 and 1.02 to compare, it would help to write it down like this:

Starting from the ‘Ones’ place, we see that 1 = 1.

The next place of comparison is the ‘Tenths’ place, where we see that $2 > 0$.

So the comparison between 1.201 and 1.02 can be written as 1.201 > 1.02. The comparison is always done from left to right.

Examples

Comparing Decimals (Example #1)

$12.444$ ? $12.555$
Compare the Tens place ($1 = 1$)
Compare the Ones place ($2 = 2$)
Compare the Tenths place ($4 < 5$)

Comparing Decimals (Example #2)

$0.06$ ? $0.006$
Compare the Tenths place ($0 = 0$)
Compare the Hundredths place ($6 > 0$)

Comparing Decimals (Example #3)

$12.345$ ? $12.367$
Compare the Tens place ($1 = 1$)
Compare the Ones place ($2 = 2$)
Compare the Tenths place ($3 = 3$)
Compare the Hundredths place ($4 < 6$)

Comparing Decimals (Example #4)

$12.345$ ? $23.456$
Compare the Tens place ($1 < 2$)

Comparing Decimals (Example #5)

$11.1$ ? $1.11$
Compare the Tens place ($1 > 0$)