Decimal Fractions. Decimal fractions are fractional parts of a whole unit, which have implied denominators that are multiples of 10. A decimal fraction of 0.1 has a value of 1/10th, 0.01 has a value of 1/100th, and 0.001 has a value of 1/1000th. As the number of decimal place values increases, the value of the decimal number changes by a multiple of 10. A single number placed to the right of a decimal point has a value expressed in tenths; two numbers to the right of a decimal point have a value expressed in hundredths; three numbers to the right have a value expressed in thousandths; and four numbers are expressed in ten-thousandths. Since the denominator is implied, the number of decimal places in the numerator indicates the value of the decimal fraction. So a decimal fraction expressed as a 0.125 means the whole unit has been divided into 1000 parts and 125 of these parts are considered in the value of the decimal fraction.

In industry, most decimal fractions are expressed in terms of thousandths rather than tenths or hundredths. So a decimal fraction of 0.2 is expressed as 200 thousandths, not 2 tenths, and a value of 0.75 is expressed as 750 thousandths, rather than 75 hundredths. In the case of four place decimals, the values are expressed in terms of ten-thousandths. So a value of 0.1875 is expressed as 1 thousand 8 hundred and 75 ten-thousandths. When whole numbers and decimal fractions are used...