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Course: 5th grade > Unit 10
Lesson 5: Comparing decimal place valuesPowers of ten: FAQ
Frequently asked questions about powers of ten.
What is a power of ten?
A power of ten is when you multiply ten by itself a certain number of times. For example, means to multiply ten by itself twice, resulting in .
Try it yourself with this exercise:
What does it mean to multiply and divide by , , or ?
When you multiply a number by , , or , you're making it ten, one hundred, or one thousand times larger.
When you divide a number by , , or , you're making it ten, one hundred, or one thousand times smaller.
Try it yourself with this exercise:
How do I multiply and divide a decimal by , or ?
When you multiply a decimal by , or , you're effectively shifting the decimal point to the right.
- When you multiply by
, the decimal point moves one place to the right. For example, . - When you multiply by 100, the decimal point moves two places to the right. For example,
. - When you multiply by 1000, the decimal point moves three places to the right. For example,
.
When you divide a decimal by , or , you're effectively shifting the decimal point to the left.
- When you divide by
, the decimal point moves one place to the left. For example, . - When you divide by
, the decimal point moves two places to the left. For example, . - When you divide by
, the decimal point moves three places to the left. For example, .
Try it yourself with these exercises:
How do I multiply by a power of ten?
To multiply by a power of ten, you follow the same rules as before. For example, to multiply by , you multiply by , and to multiply by , you multiply by .
Try it yourself with this exercise:
Why do I need to know how to multiply and divide by powers of ten?
Multiplying and dividing by powers of ten is a useful skill in a lot of different situations. For example, you might use it when converting between metric units or when calculating percentages.
Want to join the conversation?
- Can you have negative powers? Like 10^-2?(21 votes)
- Great question for 5th grade! The answer is yes! A negative power means taking the reciprocal of the answer, so 10^-2 = 1/(10^2) = 1/100 = 0.01.
Have a blessed, wonderful day!(32 votes)
- what if the power of ten is like ten to the power of 30 how would you find that?(16 votes)
- Think of the power as how many times you put zero after 1.(11 votes)
- I finished it, and I wonder what would happen if there was a 10 to the power of anything beyond 5(10 votes)
- it will be in the millions, billions, trillions, and quadrillions
and there pretty easy(1 vote)
- Never gonna give you up never gonna let you down never gonna run around and desert you 🧑🏻🦰🧑🏻🦰🧑🏻🦰(4 votes)
- its just ten that has the "powers" it can be other numbers right?(3 votes)
- there can be
others(1 vote)
- So i learned this that when you have to multiply by 10,100,and 1,000 you are shifting the decimal point to the right, or if you have to divide by 10,100,and 1,000 you are shifting the decimal point to the left.(2 votes)
- It's the opposite. Multiply = left, Divide = right.(2 votes)
- i a confused on the 1/10 part(1 vote)
- when you divide something by 10, the decimal shifts to the left. So, 23/10 is 2.3, and 2.3 is essentially 1/10 of 23. hope this helps!(3 votes)
- For people who don't understand the article, 10 to the power of 1 is 10, since 10 is by itself. But for the 10 to the power of 2, you do 10x10 since its powered by itself, twice. which is 100. JUst like 10 to the power of three is 10x10x10=1,000.(1 vote)