(01.02)

Explain how to use estimation to help find the product of two decimals. Give an example with both estimated and actual answers. (5 points)

1 answer

Estimation can be used to find the product of two decimals by rounding the numbers to a simpler value and multiplying them together.

Here's an example:

Let's say we want to find the product of 3.58 and 2.13.

Step 1: Round the decimals to a simpler value. For example, we can round 3.58 to 4 and 2.13 to 2.

Step 2: Multiply the rounded numbers together. In this case, 4 multiplied by 2 is equal to 8.

So, the estimated product of 3.58 and 2.13 is 8.

To find the actual product, we would multiply the original decimals together using long multiplication:

3.58
x 2.13
______
7160
+7152
______
7635.54

So, the actual product of 3.58 and 2.13 is 7,635.54.

In this example, estimation helped us quickly calculate a rough estimate of the product (8) without the need for complex calculations. However, for precise calculations, we need to use the actual decimals.