Round the result to the nearest tenths and then to the nearest hundredth
-49.256 = 17.197
First of all, make sure you know which digits AFTER the decimal are the tenths and the hundredths.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/math/decimals/placevalue/gifs/ex.GIF
To round a number to the nearest tenths, you need to look at the digit in the hundredths place. In this case, the digit in the hundredths place is 6. Since 6 is greater than or equal to 5, you round the number up. Therefore, -49.256 rounded to the nearest tenths is -49.3.
To round a number to the nearest hundredth, you need to look at the digit in the thousandths place. In this case, the digit in the thousandths place is 5. Since 5 is exactly halfway between 0 and 9, you round to the nearest even number. Since the digit in the hundredths place is 3, which is odd, you leave the tenth digit as it is. Therefore, -49.3 rounded to the nearest hundredth is also -49.3.