The Ministry is migrating nzmaths content to Tāhurangi.
Relevant and up-to-date teaching resources are being moved to Tāhūrangi (tahurangi.education.govt.nz).
When all identified resources have been successfully moved, this website will close. We expect this to be in June 2024.
e-ako maths, e-ako Pāngarau, and e-ako PLD 360 will continue to be available.
For more information visit https://tahurangi.education.govt.nz/updates-to-nzmaths
A number may have many numerals and one commonly used form of numeral is the ‘decimal’, or more correctly, ‘decimal fraction’. This is a system which extends the base ten numeration system to have place values less than 1. For example, whereas 324 is a compact numeral which can be written in expanded form as (3x100) + (2x10) + (4x1), we can extend this system to include fractional parts. For example, 324 15/100 could be written as 324.15 which means (3x100) + (2x10) + (4x1) + (1x1/10) + (5x1/100). So decimals are another way of recording fractional parts and are an extension of the base 10 numeration system. Obviously there is no restriction on the length of the decimal part, the part to the right of the decimal point. Other ways of recording parts of a whole are common fractions and percentages.
The full benefit of having a positional notation numeration system such as the system of decimal fractions is in having a system of units of measurement that is in harmony with it. Hence we see the importance of the metric system to industry and to society in general. (See SI measurement units)
