Question

3-74. Mentally calculate the following products.  Use the rule for decimal multiplication to write an equation in which the decimal point is written in the correct location.  Homework Help ✎ (−0.04)(−0.1)  (0.03)(−0.02)  (0.7)(0.4)  Stacey said, “Stephanie, look at my answer to the last problem, 0.7 · 0.4 = 0.28.  Usually when I multiply, I get a bigger answer than the numbers I start with.  Twenty-eight hundredths, 0.28, is less than either 0.4 or 0.7.  I must have made a mistake.” Stephanie responded, “Well, one half times one half is one fourth, and one fourth is less then one half.  I think when you multiply by a fraction or decimal less than one, you get less than you started with.” Write a sentence or two about who you think is correct and why.

Answer 1

Stephanie is correct, because when you multiply a number by a number less than 1 it becomes smaller.

Answer 2

I think Stephine is correct, because we must do it like this:
   2

   0.7
x 0.4
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   0.28