Reply #6: See if this helps...

[livvy]

Imagine two pies, or two cakes. One is cut into 100 pieces, and the other cut into 10. .08 means 8/100 or eight pieces out of 100 pieces. .1 means 1/10 or one piece out of ten pieces. Obviously the pieces are much smaller in the first pie/cake, right, so even though you get 8 of the pieces, since they are so small, you get less than you would with only one of the bigger pieces.

Decimals are really fractions of a whole. .02 is 2/100, .1 is 1/10, .35 is 35/100 and so forth.

Another name for .1 would be .10 (10/100). If you are trying to compare .01 to .1, thinking of .1 as .10 makes it easier to see the difference. .01=1/100 .10=10/100

You can also think of the decimals as a part of a group. There are 100 cupcakes (although we know there is only one true cupcake). Anyway, your nephew ate 10 of the cupcakes (.1 = .10 = 10/100). To be under the limit, he should have eaten less than two of them (.02 = 2/100).

Hope this helps, and I also wish your nephew the best. A DUI is not fun, but he'll get through it. The most important thing for him to remember is not to repeat the mistake which will be hard for someone as young as him to do. It really doesn't take much to be over the limit. More than about a beer every hour or so will do it. He and his buds will need to agree to set up a designated driver routine. Not drinking one night out of every three or four outings sure beats a DUI.