4) When multiplying decimals you can also follow the following steps to correclty place the decimal point.
5) First, multiply the two factors as if they are both integer numbers.
6) Then, count the decimal places in both factors to find how many places are needed in the product.
7) Start at the right of the product and count the number of places in the factors.
8) Use calculator to check.
We can apply this to an example:
We can multiply 1.52 times 3.147.
Then, we multiply them as integers, ignoring the decimal point:
Then, we count the decimal places for both factors: 2 decimals for 1.52 and 3 decimals for 3.147.
The total number of decimals is 2+3=5.
Then, we start at the right of the product and count 5 places in the left direction: