Problem 1 · 1987 AJHSME
Easy
Fractions, Decimals & Percents
align-decimals
.4 + .02 + .006 =
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Answer: E — .426.
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Hint 1 of 2
Each number already lives in a different place: 4 in the tenths, 2 in the hundredths, 6 in the thousandths. What happens when no two of them share a column?
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Hint 2 of 2
When addends don't overlap in any place value, the digits just slot in next to each other — no carrying.
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Approach: drop each digit into its own place
- .4 fills the tenths place, .02 the hundredths, .006 the thousandths — three different columns, so nothing overlaps and nothing carries.
- Read them off in order: .426.
- Sanity-check the traps: .066 comes from misaligning the decimal points, and .012 from ignoring them entirely. Lining up the points is the whole game.
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