The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
6.24
The process of rounding a number to a specific place value involves simplifying the number to a less precise but more convenient form. The goal is to find the closest number with the desired number of decimal places. The original number provided is 6.24159, and the instruction is to round it to the hundredths place.
First, it is essential to identify the digits in their respective place values. In the number 6.24159:
- The digit 6 is in the ones place.
- The digit 2 is in the tenths place.
- The digit 4 is in the hundredths place.
- The digit 1 is in the thousandths place.
The instruction specifies rounding to the hundredths place, so our target digit is 4. This is the digit that may either stay the same or increase by one.
To decide what to do with the target digit, we look at the digit immediately to its right. This digit is in the thousandths place, which is 1. The standard rule for rounding is as follows: if the digit to the right of the rounding position is 5 or greater (5, 6, 7, 8, or 9), we round up the target digit. If the digit is 4 or less (0, 1, 2, 3, or 4), we keep the target digit as it is.
In this case, the deciding digit is 1. Since 1 is less than 5, we do not round up the digit in the hundredths place. Therefore, the 4 remains a 4.
The final step is to write the rounded number by keeping all the digits up to the hundredths place and discarding all the digits to its right. We keep the 6, the decimal point, the 2, and the 4. The digits 1, 5, and 9 are dropped.
Thus, 6.24159 rounded to the nearest hundredth is 6.24.
