Multiplying and Dividing Decimals

Welcome to NurseHub’s Lesson on Multiplying and Dividing Decimals. This lesson will help you to prepare for the Math section of your TEAS exam.

Learning Goals:

• Accurately multiply and divide decimals with differing place values without a calculator.

Why is this skill important to know?

Decimal amounts can come up often. Medication being calculated into doses, ordering the exact measurements of things, determining price, and many other scenarios that require knowing how to multiply and divide decimals. Calculators are great, but knowing how to do this without one will help to reinforce your understanding of this important math concept.

Key Vocabulary:

1. Factor – a number being multiplied

2. Product – the answer to a multiplication problem

3. Divisor – the number doing the dividing

4. Dividend – the number being divided

5. Quotient – the answer to a division problem

Key Points:

Multiplication

1. When multiplying decimals, do not line up the decimals.
2. Multiply numbers with decimals as if the decimal points were not there.
3. When multiplying numbers, the amount of numbers after the decimal in the question should be equal to the amount of numbers after the decimal in the answer.
4. When multiplying by a decimal that is less than one whole, your product will be smaller than the other factor.

Division

1. You need to move the decimal “out” of the divisor before you start dividing.
2. However many times you move the decimal to get it “out” of the divisor, you move the decimal in the dividend the same number of spaces.
3. Once the decimal is out of the divisor, you divide normally.
4. When dividing by a decimal less than one whole, your quotient will be larger than the dividend.

Practice Problems

Try solving each problem below, check your answer, then play the video to see a step-by-step walkthrough of the solution.

What’s Next?

Click the quiz link below to practice this skill with realistic questions aligned to the TEAS 7 exam.