To round the given number, 32581.246, to the nearest hundredth, follow these steps:
1. Identify the hundredth place in the number. The hundredth place is the second digit to the right of the decimal point.
- In the number 32581.246, the hundredth place is the digit 4.
2. Look at the digit immediately to the right of the hundredth place to decide if you round up or down.
- The digit right after the hundredth place (4) is 6.
3. If this digit is 5 or higher, you round up the hundredth place by adding 1. If it is less than 5, the hundredth place remains the same.
- Since there's a 6 (which is greater than 5), you round up the 4 by 1, changing it to 5.
4. Replace all digits to the right of the hundredth place with 0 (though in most cases this is not necessary since we're only considering digits up to the hundredth place).
So, rounding 32581.246 to the nearest hundredth, the result is 32581.25.
Therefore, the correct answer is:
b. [tex]$32,581.25$[/tex]
