Which is bigger, 0.5 or 0.45?

0:00Which is bigger, 0.5 or 0.45? Let us find out.

0:07First, put both numbers on a number line from 0 to 1.

0:120.5 is 5 tenths, so it sits right in the middle.

0:170.45 sits halfway between 0.4 and 0.5.

0:23Numbers get bigger as you move to the right, so 0.5 is bigger.

0:29Now let us check with the digits. Line up the decimal points.

0:35Write a zero in the empty place, so both numbers have 2 decimal places.

0:410.5 and 0.50 have the same value.

0:46Now compare the digits place by place. The ones are the same, so start with the tenths.

0:525 tenths is more than 4 tenths.

0:56The tenths decide it. 0.50 is bigger, so we can stop here.

1:02So 0.5 is bigger than 0.45.

1:070.45 has more digits, but that does not make it bigger.

1:12Its extra digit is only 5 hundredths, and that is less than 1 tenth.

1:18So compare the place values, not the number of digits.