what is the total width of 21 math books that are .78 centimeters thick

Your question doesn't make any sense. Please clarify.

you do 78*21...are your final units in cm?

To determine the total width of 21 math books that are 0.78 centimeters thick, you'll need to multiply the thickness of one book by the number of books. Here's how you can calculate it:

Step 1: Find the width of one math book.
Multiply the thickness of one math book (0.78 centimeters) by 2 since there are two sides to consider (front and back covers). Therefore, the width of one math book is 0.78 cm * 2 = 1.56 centimeters.

Step 2: Calculate the total width.
Multiply the width of one math book (1.56 centimeters) by the number of books (21). So, the total width would be 1.56 cm * 21 = 32.76 centimeters.

Therefore, the total width of 21 math books that are 0.78 centimeters thick is 32.76 centimeters.