What is 0.03 multiplied by 0.045?

1. Multiply 3 by 45 as whole numbers: 3 x 45 = 135. 2. Count the decimal places in each factor: 0.03 has 2 and 0.045 has 3. 3. Add those counts together: 2 + 3 = 5 decimal places needed in the product. 4. Placing 135 with 5 decimal places requires adding zeros in front: 0.00135. 5. 0.0135 has only 4 decimal places and 0.000135 has 6, so both miscount the total needed. _Source: OpenStax Prealgebra (CC BY 4.0), Ch 5 "Decimals", section 5.2 Decimal Operations_