91Ó°ÊÓ

Decimal multiplication is a basic math skill that involves multiplying numbers with decimal points. When multiplying decimals, don't worry about the decimal points right away. Start by treating the decimals as whole numbers and multiply them. After performing the multiplication, you'll need to adjust the decimal points in the final product.
For example, in the exercise given, we multiply 0.984 and 3.3. We first ignore the decimal points and just multiply 984 by 33. After we get the product, we need to place the decimal point back in the correct position.

Place value is crucial when dealing with decimals. Each digit in a number has a place value depending on its position relative to the decimal point. The place value tells you how much that digit is worth.
For instance, in the number 0.984, the digit 9 is in the tenths place, the digit 8 is in the hundredths place, and the digit 4 is in the thousandths place. This means 0.984 represents nine tenths, eight hundredths, and four thousandths.
When multiplying, it's important to keep track of how many decimal places are in the original numbers. In our problem, 0.984 has three decimal places, and 3.3 has one decimal place, making a total of four decimal places. This ensures the product is correctly placed in terms of decimal value.

Breaking down the problem into steps can make decimal multiplication easier:

• Step 1: Remove the Decimal Points for Multiplication. Strip away the decimal points and multiply as if dealing with whole numbers.
• Step 2: Multiply the Numbers. Perform the multiplication with the numbers treated as whole. For our example, multiply 984 by 33 to get 32472.
• Step 3: Count the Decimal Places in the Original Numbers. Add the number of decimal places from both original numbers. For 0.984 and 3.3, this totals four decimal places (3 + 1).
• Step 4: Place the Decimal Point in the Product. Adjust the product by moving the decimal point to the left by the total number of decimal places. For 32472, we move the decimal four places left, resulting in the final answer of 3.2472.