1.8.1 Study Note 4
If you have difficulty with this section, you might find it helpful to investigate some of the Government schemes aimed at improving maths skills. More information about such schemes can be found at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/ImprovingYourSkills/index.htm (accessed 5 March 2008).
Box 3 The basics
When adding or subtracting two or more decimal numbers you need to be sure that they are lined up so that you can compare units with units, tens with tens, and hundreds with hundreds, etc. Even if the numbers contain a decimal point, they can still be lined up into columns of the same magnitude.