Paul uses the expression 4.2 times 12.3 times 14.6 to determine the cost of tiling the floor of a room that measures 12.3 feet by 14.6 feet; each square foot of tile costs $4.20. How many decimal places will be in Paul’s final answer?

Question

one
three
five
eight

Answer 1

To determine how many decimal places will be in Paul's final answer, we can analyze the multiplication of the numbers involved in the expression:

Paul is calculating: \[ 4.2 \times 12.3 \times 14.6 \]

We'll first count the decimal places in each of these numbers:

• \(4.2\) has one decimal place.
• \(12.3\) has one decimal place.
• \(14.6\) has one decimal place.

Next, we add the decimal places: \[ 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 \]

Now, we can determine the final answer. When you multiply numbers, the total number of decimal places in the result is equal to the sum of the decimal places in each factor.

Therefore, Paul's final answer will have three decimal places.

So, the answer is:

• three