Math confusion. (DO NOT LAUGH)

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1

<p>I am really sharp in math, scoring in the 750s consistantly on the SAT Math. But I was wondering how you would round -.45 to the nearest tenth. I would say it's -.4. Is this 100% correct? Where can I verify this?</p>

2

<p>Ewww... My TI-83+ says its -.5. I guess when we round, we simply ignore the negative sign?</p>

3

<p>your ti-83 is correct.</p>

4

<p>0-4 down 5-9 up</p>

5

<p>0-4 down 5-9 up</p>

<p>I know that. Since it was negative, I was thinking "up" as the lowest integer greater...if I were rounding to a whole number...</p>

6

<p>interesting......</p>

7

<p>No, I think the "up" and "down" refer to the absolute value of the number... I would say 0.5.</p>

8

<p>lol dis is actaully intriguing ^^
.5 no? ;o</p>

9

<p>It's definitely .5</p>

<p>with your method, you would say that -.41 rounds to -.5 which is definitely NOT true.</p>

<p>Absolute value here</p>

10

<p>HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH
Sorry, just had to do it :)</p>

11

<p>MUUUAHAWAWWMWAAAA</p>

<p>Yes thats how I laugh.. try me</p>

12

<p>Technically it's -.4. Since you are rounding .45 exactly, you must apply the even-odd rule to determine whether it rounds up or down. 4 is even, so it rounds down to four. Of course, in reality no one is likely to care whether you round up or down in this case. But technically that's what you should do. If you haven't studied the even-odd rule yet, you will probably look at rounding in a little more detail when you take chemistry or physics.</p>

13

<p>Write the answer in a fractional form. 9/20 works for me. :)</p>

14

<p>Great idea :)</p>

15

<p>My math test said to round the answer to the nearest tenth though.</p>

16

<p>Well, since this is in the SAT forum, I'd assume he'd be better off rounding the SAT way; 0.45 rounds UP to 0.5.</p>

17

<p>The even-odd "rule" is not a universal rule at all. If anything, rounding up in absolute value is more accepted.</p>

18

<p>I'm not sure why there is such confusion. The SAT is very clear about the way they expect answers to be entered on the scantron. </p>

<p>Unless it is specifically required, why in the world would you bother rounding up and risk making a mistake?</p>

19

<p>with significant figures, you'd round to -.4 (if you only needed 1 sig fig).</p>

<p>so, unless we're talking sig figs here, you'd round to -.5.</p>