Nearest ten, hundred, thousand

In your book, Maths Mela (Chapter 1), a hungry rabbit sits at 2,346 on a number line. Its food is kept at the two neighbouring tens, 2,340 and 2,350. Which should it go to, to take the fewest jumps of 1? From 2,346 to 2,350 is 4 jumps; back to 2,340 is 6 jumps. So 2,350 is the nearest ten of 2,346.

Next the food is kept at the neighbouring hundreds, 2,300 and 2,400. 2,346 is 46 more than 2,300 but 54 less than 2,400, so it is closer to 2,300. The nearest hundred of 2,346 is 2,300, and the rabbit needs 46 jumps. Then the food is at the neighbouring thousands, 2,000 and 3,000. 2,346 is much closer to 2,000, so the nearest thousand is 2,000, which is 346 jumps away.

So one number can have three different answers: 2,346 is nearest to 2,350 (ten), to 2,300 (hundred) and to 2,000 (thousand). Always find the two neighbours first, then ask which one is closer. For 5,789: the nearest ten is 5,790, the nearest hundred is 5,800 (5,789 is between 5,700 and 5,800, and only 11 away from 5,800), and the nearest thousand is 6,000.

Sometimes two answers are the same. Vijay found the nearest hundred of a number, and Suma found the nearest thousand of the same number. They both got the same result. Which number could it be? 7,030: its nearest hundred is 7,000 and its nearest thousand is also 7,000. 6,999 works too: 7,000 both times. But 7,126 does not: its nearest hundred is 7,100 and its nearest thousand is 7,000.