Multiplying Decimals

Recent heavy rains caused the erosion of Serpent Mound near Brush Creek in Ohio and led to the discovery of an old metal lock box buried in the mound. Upon opening the box, several items were recovered including a letter from the owner, a Mr. D.I. Gray, 7 South Carolina State Bonds worth $10.25 each and 75 North Carolina State bonds worth $11.85 each. The enclosed letter read as follows:

To find the worth of the 7 SC State Bonds, follow these steps: Set up the problem as though multiplying with whole numbers. (There is no need to align the decimal points.) Multiply. Place the decimal point in the product so that it has the same number of decimal places as the factors combined.

Click here to view the text of this document.

Park Ranger Dan, who recovered the lock box from the mound, needs to know how much the 75 NC State Bonds are worth all together to complete his report. Find the total value of the NC State Bonds

Alpha | Continue to Basics of Decimal Division | Interactive Mystery: Secret of the Mound Builders

art: Zach Sterba

writer: Nikki Siegel