Conversations on arithmetic Author:Sarah Porter This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1835 Excerpt: ...is exactly the same as that of whole numbers--the value of any number being increased ten times by the removal of this point one step on t... more »he right hand, in the same way as the value of a whole number is increased by putting a nought after it, and this altering of the situation of the point is, in fact, the same as multiplying by ten. Thus 5.736 =.5736 X 10; 57.36 = 5.736 x 10; 573.6 = 57.36 X 10; 5736= 573.6 X 10; 57360 = 5736 X 10; and so on. Now express in decimal notation--4 hundredths and 7 thousandths. 3 units, 8 tenths, and 9 hundredths. 9 units, 7 tenths, and 5 thousandths. Ed. In the first example, how am I to show that there are no tenths? Mrs. D. Recollect that, in decimal notation, tenths, hundredths, &c, have their places as well as tens, hundreds, &c.: how do you keep the places of the latter? Ed. Oh, I forgot; noughts are the place-keepers--so after putting a point to show that there are no units, I suppose we must put a nought to show the place of tenths, and the number will be written.047. Mrs. D. Thus the notation of decimals is, in this respect, the reverse of whole numbers; noughts placed on the left hand change the value of a decimal, while noughts being placed on the right hand do not in any way alter the number. For example,.35 is a thousand times more than.00035, while it is exactly the same as.35000, the noughts in this latter number merely expressing that there are no thousandths--no ten-thousandths--which is like expressing that there are no thousands, &c., in a number only amounting to hundreds. In enumerating decimals instead of repeating so many tenths, so many hundredths, &c., the integer number is usually named, then the word decimal, and merely the name of each figure of the decimal is said. Thus we call 57.36...« less