Primary 2 Money
Count notes and coins, then connect dollars and cents to decimal notation. Write amounts in words, compare money and convert units.
Count money and write in decimal notation
Count the dollars first and the cents next. Write the total in dollars and cents, with two digits for the cents. 100¢ = $1.00. The note and coin pictures below come from Zairoo's approved money-question artwork.
How much money is shown?
Start with the notes. What is $50 + $10 + $5 + $2?
Common mistake: Writing 55¢ as $0.5 changes its value to 50¢. Write $0.55 for 55¢. For 5¢, write $0.05, with a zero in the tens-of-cents place.
Write money in words
Read the dollar part as dollars and the cents part as cents. Say “and” between them. A zero before 5 cents keeps its correct place in numerals, but in words we say “five cents”.
$67.55
Read the dollars first. What does 67 mean?
Common mistake: Reading $8.05 as “eight dollars and fifty cents”. The 0 in 05 shows there are only five cents.
Compare money
Compare the dollars first. If they are equal, compare the cents. Use > for “more than” and < for “less than”. Keep two cents digits so the places line up.
$8.05 ? $8.50
| Amount | Dollars | Cents |
|---|---|---|
| First | 8 | 05 |
| Second | 8 | 50 |
Look at the dollars first. Are they the same?
Common mistake: Treating $8.05 as more than $8.50 because 5 looks bigger than 50 when the zero is ignored. Read $8.05 as 8 dollars and 5 cents; $8.50 has 50 cents.
Convert dollars and cents
One dollar is 100 cents. To change dollars and cents into cents, count 100 cents for each dollar, then add the extra cents. To change cents into dollars and cents, make groups of 100 cents.
How many cents are in $3.40?
How many cents are in 3 dollars?
Common mistake: Writing $3.40 as 34¢. Three dollars already makes 300¢; add 40¢ to get 340¢.