Exercise 1 Page 342

In this exercise, we are given two decimal numbers. 4.8 ? 4.80 To compare positive decimal numbers, we need to look at how many zeros there are and where they are located.

• Zeros that come after the nonzero numbers, but before the decimal point, make the number bigger.

  5 00 .2 > 5 .2

  • Zeros that come before the nonzero numbers, and after the decimal point, make the number smaller.

  0 . 002 < 0 .2

  • Zeros that come before nonzero numbers that are before the decimal point, or zeros that come after nonzero numbers that are after the decimal point, do not change the value of the number at all.

  005 .2 = 5 .2 5 .2 00 = 5 .2 Let's look at the zeros in the given numbers and see how they affect the comparison. 4 .8 ? 4 .8 0 Because the zero is added at the very end, after the decimal point, the value is unaffected and the numbers are equal. 4 .8 = 4 .8 0