6th grade · Math · Unit 3 of 17
Decimal × and ÷
Multiply and divide decimals
What your child practices
Multiplying and dividing decimals, estimating to check where the decimal point goes, and solving shopping and measurement problems.
Alabama Course of Study content standard: 6.6 · adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Multiply as if there were no decimal points.
- Count the decimal places in the numbers you started with.
- Give your answer that many decimal places.
Example: 0.6 × 4 = ? Ignore the point: 6 × 4 = 24. 0.6 has 1 decimal place. So the answer has 1 decimal place: 2.4. Answer: 2.4
Decimal × and ÷ in Alabama
In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 3 of 17 in 6th grade Math, after Mixed Numbers & Ratios and before Percents & Budgets.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
45.6 L of juice is poured equally into 8 bottles. How much juice goes in each bottle?
answer boxL
5.7 L
Hint: Divide the total by 8: 45.6 ÷ 8. Think of 45.6 as 456 tenths to make it easier.
Question 2
Which is the best estimate for 5.17 × 2.1?
- 100
- 1
- 1000
- 10
10
Hint: Round each number to the nearest whole number, then multiply: 5 × 2. Check that the size of the answer makes sense.
Question 3
Sam buys 8 apples at $2.65 each. What is the total cost in dollars?
🍎$2.65 eachanswer box
21.20
Hint: Multiply the price by 8. It can help to work in cents: 265¢ × 8, then change cents to dollars (100¢ = $1).
Question 4
A bag holds 2.5 kg of trail mix. How many 0.25 kg portions can be made?
answer box
10
Hint: Divide 2.5 by 0.25. Multiply both numbers by 100 to get whole numbers first: 250 ÷ 25.
Question 5
What is 12.4 ÷ 8?
12.4 ÷ 8 = ?
answer box
1.55
Hint: Think of 12.4 as 1240 hundredths. Divide: 1240 ÷ 8 = 155 hundredths. Then write that as a decimal.
Question 6
67 × 71 = 4757. Use this fact to find 6.7 × 7.1.
67 × 71 = 4757
- 4757
- 47.57
- 475.7
- 0.4757
47.57
Hint: The digits come from 4757. Count the decimal places in both factors (2 in total), then move the decimal point in 4757 that many places to the left.