Video Transcript
Each square is one whole. James has colored one whole and
four-tenths orange. Write this as a mixed number. Write the decimal shown by the
model. Hint: Use a place value table to
help you.
In the model, we can see two
squares. And in the very first part of the
question, we’re told that each square has a value of one whole. We’re then told that James has
colored one whole and four-tenths orange. In other words, he’s colored a
whole square and part of a square. Now, there are several ways that we
could represent a whole and a bit more or a whole and a part. And one of these is as a mixed
number.
A mixed number has a whole part and
a fraction part. So if we were to represent what
James has colored as a mixed number, we’d need to represent the whole square. So we’d write the number one, one
whole square. And then part of a square, which is
four-tenths of a square that is colored, we simply write as a fraction. James has colored one and
four-tenths.
Another way we could represent a
whole amount and a part is as a decimal. Now, to help us solve this part of
the problem, we’re given a hint: to use a place value table. We know that the decimal point in a
decimal number separates the whole part from the fractional part or the part that’s
less than a whole. Now, often when we start learning
about tenths, we put a zero in the ones place, because we’re only talking about a
number of tenths. We’re not talking about any whole
amounts. But in this example, James has
colored in a whole square. So we’re going to need to write the
digit one in the ones place. This represents his one whole
square that he’s colored in. And we know that the column to the
right of the decimal point shows the number of tenths. And in the second square, we know
James has colored four-tenths. So we’re going to write the digit
four in the tenths place.
In this question, we can see the
same value represented in four different ways. It’s described in the actual
question in words. We’re also shown a model. And we’ve had to work out answers
which show it as a mixed number, which is a whole number and a fraction, and finally
as a decimal, four different ways of saying exactly the same thing. As a mixed number, James has
colored one and four-tenths. And we write this as a decimal as a
one, then the decimal point, and then the digit four, 1.4, one and four-tenths.
