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Multiplying Decimals 81
that might not be apparent otherwise. We will look at some of these
possibilities shortly. In the meantime, try these problems.
Test you rself
Tr y the se :
a) 1.2 × 1.2 =
b) 1.4 × 1.4 =
c) 12 × 0.14 =
d) 96 × 0.97 =
e) 0.96 × 9.6 =
f) 5 × 1.5 =
How did you do? The answers are:
a ) 1.44 b ) 1.96 c ) 1.68
d) 93.12 e) 9.216 f) 7.5
What if we had to multiply 0.13 × 0.14?
13 × 14 = 182
Where do we put the decimal? How many digits come after the
decimal point in the problem? Four, the 1 and 3 in the fi rst number
and the 1 and 4 in the second. So we count back four digits in the
answer. But wait a minute; there are only three digits in the answer.
What do we do? We have to supply the fourth digit. So, we count
back three digits, then supply a fourth digit by putting a 0 in front
of the number. Th en we put the decimal point before the 0, so that
we have four digits after the decimal.
Th e answer looks like this:
.0182