# Create Integer or Decimal Number Questions

You can create numerical questions that ask your students to answer with an integer or decimal value.

• Fractional answers are also allowed, but answers are not required to be specified as a fraction.
• Students can enter scientific notation like 6.4e2.
• Unless you disallow it, students can also enter simple mathematical expressions like 19 * 23.
1. Click Questions > Create.
The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Numerical.
4. In Question, type your question.

Use the answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box should be displayed.

5. Optional: Set grading and display options for the answer box.
Option Begin Answer With: Notes
Require student to calculate the answer
<EQN $SIMPLIFIED=1; ''> Unless you set $SIMPLIFIED, students can use basic mathematical operators — addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponentiation — in their answer and be awarded credit for correctly stating the problem as a mathematical expression without actually performing the computation.

For example, a student might answer 28 * 19 instead of 532.

Make the answer box n characters wide
<EQN $size=n; ''> By default, the answer box is 10 characters wide. Changing the size of the answer box does not restrict the length of your students' responses. You can combine these declarations using a single <EQN> tag by separating each declaration with a semicolon. For example: <EQN$SIMPLIFIED=1; \$size=20; ''>
6. In Answer, type the correct numerical answer to the question.
Important Observe the following rules regarding the format of your numerical answer:
• Do not use commas, spaces, or other separators between digits.
• You can use scientific ("e") notation, for example, 1.51e7.
• You can type one or more words such as NONE, INFINITY, DNE, or NO SOLUTION; numerical questions are not case- or space- sensitive, but your students must type the words exactly to be marked correct.

These rules also apply to your students when they respond to your question.

7. Optional: Type a Solution.

The solution helps your students understand the steps they need to take to determine the correct answer to the question. Your assignment settings specify when to show the solution.

8. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question. See Test Questions.
9. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
10. Optional: Click Show Additional Information and change the question's sharing permission or add descriptive information.
• By default, other instructors can use your question only if you provide them with the question ID, and only you can edit the question or find it in search results. To change the permission, see Share Questions With Other Instructors.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide descriptive information to help others search for it. See Add Search Metadata to Questions.
11. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.

WebAssign assigns it a unique question ID (QID), which is displayed in parentheses after the question name.

You can use your question in an assignment and see it in your My Questions list only after it is saved.

## Example Numerical Question

The following table summarizes an actual question.

 QID 1077998 Template2 2.NUM.01. Numerical How many miles will a car travel in 3 minutes if its speed is constant at 60 mph?
<_> miles 3 Since there are 60 minutes/hour, at 60 mph the car is traveling at 1 mile/minute.

## Example Numerical Question Requiring a Computed Response

The following table summarizes an actual question.

 QID 1203080 Template2 2.NUM.06. Numerical 34 + 10 + 5 = <_> 49 {tab} 0