Question

Divide each of the following by 10, 100, and 1000: 67.8, 456.8, 531.20.

Explain the pattern in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is divided by a power of 10.

Answer 1

67.8: 6.78, 0.678, 0.0677
456.8: 45.68, 4.568, 0.4568
531.20: 53.12, 5.312, 0.5312
The pattern here is that the number of 0s there are in the digit of whatever you are dividing by, that is how many places you move the decimal place to the right. For example, by dividing 67.8 by 100, the decimal place has been moved 2 places to the right, resulting in the number 0.678