Money
The idea
Money is place value you can hold in your hand. A dollar is 100 cents, a quarter is 25 cents, a dime is 10, a nickel is 5, and a penny is 1. A price like $2.35 reads just like a place-value chart: 2 dollars, then 35 cents. Because the coins have fixed values, counting money rewards smart ordering — start with the biggest coins and bills, then let the small ones finish the job.
The cashier's secret for making change is counting up instead of subtracting. To find the change from $5 on a $3.75 total, climb from $3.75 to $4.00 with a quarter, then from $4.00 to $5.00 with a dollar — change found, no borrowing needed. And drop the idea that more coins means more money: one quarter beats a pile of 20 pennies, because each coin's value, not the size of the pile, is what counts.
Worked example
You buy a notebook for $2.35 and a pen for $1.40. You pay with a $5 bill. How much change should you get back?
- Add the prices first, keeping dollars with dollars and cents with cents: $2 + $1 = $3, and 35 cents + 40 cents = 75 cents, so the total is $3.75.
- Change is the gap between what you handed over and what you spent: $5.00 − $3.75.
- Count up like a cashier: from $3.75, a quarter (25 cents) reaches $4.00, and one more dollar reaches $5.00.
- Add the count-up pieces: 25 cents + $1.00 = $1.25 of change.
- Check by going backwards: $3.75 + $1.25 = $5.00 exactly, so the change is right.
Answer. You should get $1.25 back from your $5 bill.
Check your understanding
- Why is counting up from the total often easier than subtracting when you make change?
- How can one quarter be worth more than a whole handful of pennies?
- What different sets of coins could make exactly 60 cents, and which set uses the fewest coins?
- How does knowing that 100 cents make a dollar help you add prices like $2.35 and $1.40?