Home >> Science & Nature >> Science

How to Round Properly

Concision is a parsimonious art. When you're being concise in speaking or writing, you get the most meaning and expression out of the fewest words. And when you're being concise with numbers, you get the most accuracy from the fewest numerals, or digits. Rounding numbers is a way of being concise. It is a way of truncating long numerals without introducing inaccuracy. A few simple steps will have you on your way to the parsimonious and concise art of rounding numbers properly.

Instructions

- 1
  Keep the last figure of your number unchanged if the first dropped figure after it is less than 5. For example, round 7.217 to 7.2 because 1 is less than 5.
- 2
  Increase the last figure of your number by 1 if the first dropped figure after it is greater than 5. For example, round 3.671 to 3.7 because 7 is greater than 5.
- 3
  Increase the last figure of your number by 1 if the first dropped figure after it is equal to 5 and there are nonzero figures after the five. For example, round 1.73513 to 1.74 because the first figure dropped after the 3 is 5 and there are nonzero figures (1 and 3) after the 5.
- 4
  Increase the last figure of your number by 1 if that figure is odd, if the first dropped figure after it is equal to 5 and there are only zeros after the 5. For example, round 1.71500 to 1.72 because 1 is odd, the first figure dropped after 1 is 5 and there are only zeros after the 5.
- 5
  Leave the last figure of your number unchanged if that figure is even, if the first dropped figure after it is equal to 5 and there are only zeros after the 5. For example, round 1.72500 to 1.72 because 2 is even, the first figure dropped after 2 is 5 and there are only zeros after the 5.

Science