If every number could be magically turned into a whole, we wouldn't need
fractions or decimals, would we.
But how would you feel if you walked into a store and bought something
for $1.65, and the check-out lady said "We change everything to whole
numbers here, so just give me $2 dollars and we'll be all done".
If there's a mixed number or a decimal, and you throw away the fraction or
the decimal part, then you've changed the value of the number ... made it
into a different number ... and that's a big no-no in math. If it's not a whole
number, then you have to work with it just the way it is ... both the whole part
AND the little piece.
And that's also the reason why you have to learn how to work with the little
pieces. Sorry.
