Estimate products: word problems

Key notes :

What Does “Estimate Products” Mean?
  • Estimate means to find a number close to the exact answer, but easier and quicker to calculate.
  • Product means the answer you get when multiplying two numbers.
  • Estimating products helps us check reasonableness of answers and do quick calculations.
🔹 Steps to Estimate Products
  • Round the numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, or thousand (depending on the size).
  • Multiply the rounded numbers.
  • Write the estimated product.
🔹 Example Word Problems

Example 1:
A pen costs ₹48. A shopkeeper sells about 29 pens in a day.
👉 Estimate the total sales.

  • Round: 48 → 50, 29 → 30
  • Multiply: 50 × 30 = 1500
    ✅ Estimated product = ₹1500

Example 2:
There are 412 students in a school. Each student needs about 38 notebooks in a year.
👉 Estimate the total number of notebooks.

  • Round: 412 → 400, 38 → 40
  • Multiply: 400 × 40 = 16,000
    ✅ Estimated product = 16,000 notebooks

Example 3:
A bus carries about 57 people. If 23 buses are used, how many people can travel?

  • Round: 57 → 60, 23 → 20
  • Multiply: 60 × 20 = 1,200
    ✅ Estimated product = 1,200 people
🔹 Why Estimation Is Useful?
  • Saves time in real-life situations (shopping, travel, big numbers).
  • Helps to check if the exact answer is reasonable.
  • Makes mental math easier.
🔹 Practice Problems
  • A pencil costs ₹37. A school buys 62 pencils. Estimate the total cost.
  • Each box has 245 apples. A farmer has 39 boxes. Estimate the total apples.
  • One ticket costs ₹76. About 48 people buy tickets. Estimate the total money collected.

✅ Tip : Always round numbers to a place value that makes multiplication easier (nearest 10, 100, or 1000).

Learn with an example

😃 A print shop ordered 29 shipments of newsprint. There were 5,796 sheets of newsprint in each shipment. About how many sheets of newsprint did the print shop order in all? Choose the better estimate.

Multiply:

29 × 5,796 = ?

Round the first factor to the nearest ten and the second factor to the nearest thousand.

180,000 sheets of newsprint is the better estimate.

😃 A school owns 82 buses. There are 91 seats on each bus. About how many seats in total are there on the buses? Choose the better estimate.

Multiply:

82 × 91 = ?

Round each factor to the nearest ten.

7,200 seats is the better estimate.

😃 A sporting goods company puts 683 jump ropes in each shipment. They ship 93 shipments per year. About how many skipping ropes does the company ship each year? Choose the better estimate.

Multiply:

683 × 93 = ?

Round the first factor to the nearest hundred and the second factor to the nearest ten.

63,000 skipping ropes is the better estimate.

Let’s practice!