To find the number that 7.1 is 10x smaller than, all you need to do is multiply 7.1 by 10.
7.1 × 10 = 71
Basically, when you say that "x is y times smaller than z," z has been divided by y to get x. Based on this, you could check this answer by dividing 71 by 10 to get 7.1 again.