Rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000

In a nutshell

Rounding numbers makes them much easier to work with. It also allows you to estimate answers to long, tricky calculations.

Rounding to the nearest ten means to round a number up or down to the nearest multiple of ten.

1.	Look at the digit in the ones column.
2.	If the value is $0,1,2,3$ or $4$ : round down to the nearest multiple of ten. If the value is $5,6,7,8$ or $9$ : round up to the nearest multiple of ten.

Round $72$ to the nearest ten.

Look at the ones.

The digit in the ones column is $2$ .

Round down to the nearest multiple of ten.

$72\rightarrow\underline{70}$ 

Tip: Remember, a multiple of ten has a zero in the ones column. If you already have a zero in the ones, your number is already rounded!

Rounding to the nearest hundred means to round a number up or down to the nearest multiple of $100$ .

1.	Look at the digit in the tens column.
2.	If the value is $1,2,3$ or $4$ : round down to the nearest multiple of $100$ . If the value is $5,6,7,8$ or $9$ : round up to the nearest multiple of $100$ .

Round $673$ to the nearest hundred.

Look at the tens.

The digit in the tens column is $7$ .

Round up to the nearest multiple of $100$ .

$673\rightarrow\underline{700}$

Rounding to the nearest thousand means to round a number up or down to the nearest multiple of $1000$ .

1.	Look at the digit in the hundreds column.
2.	If the value is $1,2,3$ or $4$ : round down to the nearest multiple of $1000$ . If the value is $5,6,7,8$ or $9$ : round up to the nearest multiple of $1000$ .

Round $1629$ to the nearest thousand.

Look at the hundreds.

The digit in the hundreds column is $6$ .

Round up to the nearest multiple of $1000$ .

$1629\rightarrow\underline{2000}$