Question:

Why do you need to line up the decimal points before comparing and ordering numbers with decimals?

It makes doing calculations, particularly totaling up numbers, a lot easier to do. It also makes it easier to compare the numbers when you line up the decimal points

Elementary arithmetic is the simplified portion of arithmetic which includes the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Elementary arithmetic starts with the natural numbers and the written symbols (digits) which represent them. The process for combining a pair of these numbers with the four basic operations traditionally relies on memorized results for small values of numbers, including the contents of a multiplication table to assist with multiplication and division.

A numeral system (or system of numeration) is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is, a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using digits or other symbols in a consistent manner. It can be seen as the context that allows the symbols "11" to be interpreted as the binary symbol for three, the decimal symbol for eleven, or a symbol for other numbers in different bases.

Ideally, a numeral system will:

In mathematics, the repeating decimal 0.999... (sometimes written with more or fewer 9s before the final ellipsis, or as 0.9, 0.(9), or $0.9 with dot over the 9$) denotes a real number that can be shown to be the number one. In other words, the symbols "0.999..." and "1" represent the same number. Proofs of this equality have been formulated with varying degrees of mathematical rigor, taking into account preferred development of the real numbers, background assumptions, historical context, and target audience.

Every nonzero, terminating decimal has an equal twin representation with infinitely many trailing 9s, such as 8.32 and 8.31999... The terminating decimal representation is almost always preferred, contributing to the misconception that it is the only representation. The same phenomenon occurs in all other bases or in any similar representation of the real numbers.

Mathematics Arithmetic Linguistics

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