Tenths and Hundredths

Splitting one whole into equal parts

Imagine a chocolate bar. If you snap it into 10 equal pieces, each piece is one tenth of the bar. If you then chop one of those tenths into 10 smaller pieces, each tiny piece is one hundredth of the whole bar.

So one whole can be measured in two new units that are smaller than 1:

• Tenths — ten of them make one whole.
• Hundredths — one hundred of them make one whole.

These are called decimal fractions because we can write them with a decimal point.

Writing tenths

A tenth is one part out of ten. You can write it three ways:

In words	As a fraction	As a decimal
one tenth	1/10	0.1
three tenths	3/10	0.3
seven tenths	7/10	0.7
ten tenths	10/10	1.0

The first digit after the decimal point is always the tenths place. So in 0.4, the 4 means four tenths.

Writing hundredths

A hundredth is one part out of one hundred. Each tenth is made of ten hundredths, so:

• 0.1 = 0.10 = ten hundredths
• 0.01 = one hundredth
• 0.25 = twenty-five hundredths = 2 tenths and 5 hundredths

The second digit after the point is the hundredths place.

In words	As a fraction	As a decimal
one hundredth	1/100	0.01
nine hundredths	9/100	0.09
forty hundredths	40/100	0.40
ninety-nine hundredths	99/100	0.99

A picture: the hundred grid

A hundred grid is a square split into 100 little squares. The whole square is 1.

• Colour one row (10 squares) and you have shaded one tenth = 0.1.
• Colour just one little square and you have shaded one hundredth = 0.01.
• Colour 3 rows and 4 extra squares (34 squares) and you have shaded 0.34, which is 3 tenths and 4 hundredths.

This grid shows clearly why 10 hundredths fill one whole row — one tenth.

Worked example 1: read a decimal

Read 0.62.

1. The 6 is in the tenths place → 6 tenths.
2. The 2 is in the hundredths place → 2 hundredths.
3. So 0.62 = six tenths and two hundredths = 62 hundredths = 62/100.

Worked example 2: money helps

Money is the easiest way to feel tenths and hundredths, because $1 = 100 cents.

• 10 cents is one tenth of a dollar → $0.10.
• 1 cent is one hundredth of a dollar → $0.01.
• 47 cents is $0.47, which is 4 tenths (40 cents) and 7 hundredths (7 cents).

Comparing tenths and hundredths

To compare, line the numbers up and make them the same length by adding a zero:

• Compare 0.5 and 0.43. Write 0.5 as 0.50.
• Tenths: 5 vs 4 → 5 wins, so 0.5 > 0.43.

A common trap is thinking 0.06 is bigger than 0.6 because "6 and a long number look big." Remember: 0.6 is six tenths, but 0.06 is only six hundredths — ten times smaller.

Try it yourself: the grid game

Draw a 10×10 grid. Roll a dice twice. The first roll is how many full rows (tenths) to colour, the second is how many extra squares (hundredths). Then write the decimal you made. Rolling 3 then 5 gives 0.35. Play a few rounds and read each number aloud.

Why tenths and hundredths matter

Once you can split a whole into 10s and 100s, you understand money, measuring (a ruler is split into tenths of a centimetre), and any decimal you meet later. Next, build on this with decimals explained and connect it back to introduction to fractions.