Adding and subtracting money
In a nutshell
Money can be expressed as either pounds (£) or pence (p). When returning change or summing the total cost of items in a basket, it is vital to know how to correctly calculate the right value, to ensure there is no shortchange on either side of a transaction.
Pounds and pence
You use both pounds and pence to express how much money a person has, or an object's value. Use the following equation to convert between pounds and pence:
£1=100p
This relationship makes it easy to express the value of any object as you can quickly write down the pounds and pence of an object using this relationship.
Example 1
£152.38 represents a value of £152 and 38p.
Adding and subtracting money
Using the decimal point, you can use column addition and column subtraction to find the sum of values of items or the difference in values of items.
Example 2
A book costs £9.50, and a newspaper costs £2.79. What is the total cost if Jamie wants to buy both a book and a newspaper?
9.50+2.79=£12.29
Jamie uses a £20 note to pay. How much change should he receive?
20−12.29=£7.71