Question

Explain how Brian placed the decimal point correctly in his product.

14.73 times 0.75 = 11.0475

Answer 1

To understand how Brian correctly placed the decimal point in the product of 14.73 and 0.75, we can follow a systematic approach:

1. **Count Decimal Places in the Factors**:
- The number 14.73 has 2 decimal places.
- The number 0.75 has 2 decimal places.
- In total, the two factors together have \(2 + 2 = 4\) decimal places.

2. **Multiply the Whole Numbers**:
- To calculate the product without considering the decimals, you can multiply the whole numbers:
\[
1473 \times 75
\]
- Performing the multiplication:
\[
1473 \times 75 = 110475
\]

3. **Placing the Decimal Point**:
- Since we initially counted 4 decimal places in total between the two factors, we need to place the decimal point 4 places from the right in the product.
- Starting with 110475, we move the decimal point 4 places to the left:
\[
110475 \rightarrow 11.0475
\]

4. **Final Product**:
- Therefore, the correct product of 14.73 and 0.75, with the decimal point placed correctly, is:
\[
11.0475
\]

This analysis shows how Brian determined the position of the decimal point in his multiplication.