SAT Math : How to order decimals from least to greatest or from greatest to least

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

If  is from , which of the following is the greatest?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since the range is from  to , we have negative decimals. We need to see if any operations will generate positive decimals. Only  does that as two negatives becomes positive when multiplied. 

Example Question #12 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Rank from smallest to greatest.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To rank, we check the tenths digit.  are the smallest in the set.

Next, we look at the hundredths digit.  is greater than , so the rank is .

Since the next three numbers have differnt tenths digit, we just put in numerical order.

Final answer should be 

Example Question #11 : Ordering

Which decimal is the GREATEST?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The tenths digits are different. , and  are clearly bigger than the other two.

So now, we compare the remaining decimals.  

 are exacty the same decimal with just more zeroes. 

 is clearly the biggest as it is  much bigger. 

Example Question #11 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Which decimal is the LEAST?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

By looking at the tenths digit,  are smaller than the other two.

Next, we look at the digits afterwards.  is clearly the smallest out of the rest.

The others have more precise decimal places. 

Example Question #12 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Rank from smallest to greatest. 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since each decimal have the same tenths digit, we compare the hundredths digit.  is the greatest of all decimals in the set since the rest have  as the hundredths digit.

Next, we compare the rest.

The more s there are, the more precise the decimal. 

 is the order.

The final order is 

Example Question #13 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Rank from least to greatest.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When dealing with negative numbers, remember the largest decimal is the least value which will be  since their tenths digit is greater than the rest.

The rest of the order will be .

The hundredths digit in  is greater than the rest.

So our order is 

Example Question #14 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Which decimal is the greatest?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

There is a  in front of most decimals except  which makes the rest bigger than this decimal.

Next, the ones with less zeroes means the value is bigger and further than .

We have a decimal with  zeroes, another with  zeroes, and lastly with  zeroes.

The one with  zeroes is the greatest decimal.

That value is .

Example Question #11 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Which decimal is the SMALLEST?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Remember, when dealing with negative numbers, the larger the decimal, the smaller the value.

We eliminate  as it is the smallest decimal value, however the greatest with the negative sign present.

By comparing to the hundredths digit,  has the highest hundredths digit but is the smallest value since we have a negative sign present. 

 is our answer. 

Example Question #12 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Order the following from greatest to least.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

List the elements from greatest to least. The greater numbers are the decimals closest to 1.

Example Question #12 : How To Order Decimals From Least To Greatest Or From Greatest To Least

Order these numbers from greatest to least:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Ordering decimals from greatest to least means we list them from the biggest number to the smallest number. When doing this, line up each of your numbers by their decimal points. We look at the tenths place first and order them according to that number. Then move on to the hundredths place and so on until each of the numbers are lined up from greatest to smallest. For this problem that would look like this:

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