5 x 1000 = 5000
5 times 1000 is 5000. Three zeros on the 1000 means the 5 moves three places left. Trade a zero across to the other side and 50 times 100 gives exactly the same answer.
5 × 1,000 = 5,000
Adding 5 to itself 1,000 times gives the same answer.
The method is three zeros
1000 is a 1 followed by three zeros, so multiplying by it moves every digit three places to the left. The 5 becomes 5000 and nothing else happens. The same single step gives 5 x 100 = 500 and 5 x 10000 = 50000.
The same answer from a different pair
Take a zero off the 1000 and hang it on the 5 and the product does not move: 50 x 100 is also 5000. That trade works every time and it is the quickest way to check that a zero has not gone missing. Half of 5000 is 2500, which is 25 x 100.
What 5000 usually is
- Five thousand-packs of anything sold by the thousand: flyers, screws, business cards.
- The 5000 metres on the track, which is twelve and a half laps of a 400 metre lane.
- Five grand, when the unit is money.
- Half of 10000, the next round marker up.
The one to keep separate
5 x 1000 = 5000 and 5 x 100 = 500 sit one zero apart, and that zero is the mistake people actually make. Count the zeros in the second number, then count them again in the answer. Three in, three out.
One step bigger is 50 x 1000 = 50000. The whole set is on multiplication answers.