Grade 7 Multiplying Rational Numbers
Multiplying signed rational numbers in grade 7 — like signs positive, unlike signs negative, with decimals and mixed numbers. Twenty problems.
Multiply. Two like signs give a positive product; two unlike signs give a negative product.
- 1.-7 × 18 =
- 2.8.8 × 8.1 =
- 3.-4/5 × (-1 1/4) =
- 4.19 × (-5) =
- 5.-2 1/2 × (-1 1/3) =
- 6.-3 × 2 =
- 7.0.6 × 6.9 =
- 8.-1 5/6 × (-1/3) =
- 9.-7 × (-17) =
- 10.-4.8 × (-9.4) =
- 11.-1 3/5 × (-2/3) =
- 12.-3 × (-3) =
- 13.-4.6 × 7.2 =
- 14.-1/12 × (-2 1/3) =
- 15.3 × (-7) =
- 16.1 4/5 × (-1 1/4) =
- 17.-4 × (-1) =
- 18.5.3 × (-1.3) =
- 19.-2 3/5 × 1 1/6 =
- 20.-2.2 × 4.3 =
What this worksheet covers
The sheet holds twenty multiplication problems and prints to a single black-and-white page; the answers follow on page two. Within that, eighteen of the twenty problems involve a negative quantity, so the answer is not always larger than what went in; several problems use mixed numbers, which have to be handled without dropping the whole-number part. Grade 7, The Number System, Common Core 7.NS.2: that is the exact slot this page fills.
Skills practiced
Grade 7 sits in the stretch of the multiplication progression concerned with signed rational numbers, integer exponents, scientific notation. Concretely, the page tests whether a student can work in fractional units and simplify the result, keep decimal points aligned rather than right-aligning digits out of habit, and track direction as well as magnitude. A right answer arrived at by an unreliable route is worth less here than a slower, repeatable one.
How to use this worksheet
Expect this to take twenty minutes or so of genuine attention. At grade 7, work in multiplication rewards care over speed — a student who rushes it will get the arithmetic right and the signs wrong. Mark it together rather than handing it back scored. The conversation about a wrong answer is where the teaching happens.
One mistake to watch for
Cross-multiplying when multiplying fractions: 2/3 × 3/4 gets a common denominator first.
The common-denominator procedure from fraction addition is being applied to a different operation.
Show the area picture: 2/3 of 3/4 of a square is a rectangle, and its area is the product of the two dimensions. No common denominator appears anywhere in the picture.
Related worksheets
Also aligned to 7.NS.2
Other sheets covering 7.NS.2. Same target, different problems, so a student who has seen this page has not seen these.
- Grade 7 Dividing Rational Numbers — grade 7, 20 problems
A step either side
Where this skill comes from and where it goes next. Drop back a grade when the page stalls; move up when it does not.
- Grade 6 Multiplication & GCF/LCM Practice — grade 6, 10 problems
- Grade 8 Multiplying Numbers in Scientific Notation — grade 8, 16 problems
Print as many copies of this grade 7 multiplication worksheet as you need. It was built for signed rational numbers, integer exponents, scientific notation, and the answer key is already in the file.