In the seemingly easy question me and my dc disagreed so I’d like to ask for help.

Increase 5.56 by 1/10.

Do we simply add o.1 to 5.56 (my dc’s solution)
Do we find 1/10 of 5.56 and add it to 5.56 (my solution, or am I over complicating things?)


Thanks a lot for help!

I would do it your way.
But if the question is worded like that then I think your ds is justified in answering it his way too.
It's not well worded.

It is very poorly worded. If DC of this stage are really not expected to understand 'increase by 10%', then it should read 'by 1/10th / 1/10th of itself, if the setter means, as one suspects they do 'what is 110% of 5.56?'

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

It is actually a question from Withington maths papers and they have a similar one come up each year, like 2014, then 2015. These are supposed to be good papers. So on the end, which answer should I go for when telling my dc what to do..?

Actually, thinking about it, your DC may be right - one interpretation of the aim of the question is to check recognition of the correct placement of a value given as a fraction (i.e. '1 divided by 10') in a number given to two decimal places?

Presumably the school doesn't provide an answer sheet?

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

No, no answer sheets