
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is 5.2.
Rounding is a process of approximating a number to a simpler value that is easier to use. When you are asked to round a number to the nearest tenth, you are finding which tenth the number is closest to.
To begin, let’s identify the place values in the number 5.19. The digit 5 is in the ones place. The first digit to the right of the decimal point, which is 1, is in the tenths place. This is the digit we need to focus on. The second digit after the decimal, which is 9, is in the hundredths place. This hundredths digit is the key to deciding how to round the tenths digit.
The standard rule for rounding is as follows: look at the digit immediately to the right of the place you are rounding to. In this case, we look at the hundredths digit (9) to decide what to do with our tenths digit (1). If the deciding digit is 5 or greater, you round up the target digit. If the deciding digit is 4 or less, you keep the target digit the same.
In the number 5.19, the hundredths digit is 9. Since 9 is greater than 5, we must round up the digit in the tenths place. The tenths digit is currently 1. Rounding it up means we add one to it, which gives us 2.
The digit in the ones place (5) remains the same. The tenths digit becomes 2. All digits to the right of the tenths place are then removed. This process gives us the final rounded number. Therefore, 5.19 rounded to the nearest tenth is 5.2. You can think of it on a number line; 5.19 is much closer to 5.20 (or 5.2) than it is to 5.10 (or 5.1).
