Round 6,842 to the nearest hundred.

• A. 6,900
• B. 6,800
• C. 6,700
• D. 6,840

Answer: (B)

Rounding to the nearest hundred uses the tens digit to decide whether to go up or stay the same. In 6,842, the tens digit is 4, which is less than 5, so you don’t increase the hundreds. Keep the hundreds part as 6, and change the tens and ones to zero, giving 6,800.

Other numbers shown would come from rounding to a different place value or from rounding up when the tens digit were 5 or higher (for example, 6,900 would happen if the tens digit were 5 or more), or from rounding to the nearest ten (which would yield 6,840).