Find the Predecessor: Identifying the Number Before 40,300

Q: What's the difference between predecessor and successor?

A predecessor comes before a number (subtract 1), while a successor comes after a number (add 1). For 40,300: predecessor is 40,299 and successor is 40,301.

Q: Why can't the answer be 40,290 or 40,399?

These numbers are not consecutive to 40,300! The predecessor must be exactly one less, not 10 less (40,290) or 99 more (40,399).

Q: How do I remember which operation to use?

Think of a number line: to find what comes before (left side), you subtract. To find what comes after (right side), you add. Before = subtract, After = add!

Number Predecessors with Five-Digit Values

What number comes before 40,300?

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Step-by-step written solution

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Understand the problem

What number comes before 40,300?

Step-by-step solution

To solve the problem of finding what number comes before 40,300, we need to find the predecessor of 40,300. This can be done by subtracting 1 from 40,300.

Let's perform this calculation:

Given number: $40,300$
Predecessor: $40,300 - 1$
Calculating: $40,300 - 1 = 40,299$

Therefore, the number that comes before 40,300 is $40,299$ .

Looking at the provided answer choices, choice #4 offers the number 40,299, which matches our calculation. Thus, the correct answer is $40,299$ .

Final Answer

$40,299$

Key Points to Remember

Essential concepts to master this topic

Rule: A predecessor is always one number smaller than the given number
Technique: Subtract 1 from 40,300 to get 40,299
Check: Verify 40,299 + 1 equals original number 40,300 ✓

Common Mistakes

Avoid these frequent errors

Adding 1 instead of subtracting
Don't add 1 to find what comes before = 40,301 which is the successor! Adding moves you forward, not backward in the number sequence. Always subtract 1 to find the predecessor.

Practice Quiz

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What number comes before 31,000?

FAQ

Everything you need to know about this question

What's the difference between predecessor and successor?

A predecessor comes before a number (subtract 1), while a successor comes after a number (add 1). For 40,300: predecessor is 40,299 and successor is 40,301.

Why can't the answer be 40,290 or 40,399?

These numbers are not consecutive to 40,300! The predecessor must be exactly one less, not 10 less (40,290) or 99 more (40,399).

Does this work for any number?

Yes! Every whole number has a predecessor by subtracting 1. This works for any positive integer, whether it's 5 (predecessor: 4) or 1,000,000 (predecessor: 999,999).

What if the number ends in zero like 40,300?

No problem! When you subtract 1 from a number ending in zero, the last digit becomes 9 and you borrow from the previous place value. $40,300 - 1 = 40,299$

How do I remember which operation to use?

Think of a number line: to find what comes before (left side), you subtract. To find what comes after (right side), you add. Before = subtract, After = add!

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