by joe

take any number and find out how much to add to get it to the nearest tens subract and add that
number to the orignal number multiply add the square

example:

(999+1) (999-1) + (1^2)

Squaring a number

Contributed by Ryan

A math trick I noticed when I was young. If you are squaring a number it is always equal to the
total of the number times 2 subtract one of the previous squared number. This is helpful if you
dont want to write it out. For instance most people know that 10×10=100 or 11×11=121 even
12×12=144 so lets say you dont know 13×13. Its equal to (13×2)-1(plus the previous squared
number which was 12×12)144=169

Squaring two digit numbers

Contributed by Shyju

Suppose AB is the number,

A*A|2*A*B|B*B

( if A*A or A*B is one digit add 0 prior to that – eg: 4 should be written as 04, 5 should be 05
etc..)

Take a number : 35

09|30|25 ( 3*3 | double of 3*5 | 5*5 )

From right to left, keep the right most number as it is and add the number coming both side of |
symbol.

ie. Keep 5 as it is, add 2+0, add 3+9

1225

Take another example 43

Multiplying by 9 is really multiplying by 10-1.

So, 9×9 is just 9x(10-1) which is 9×10-9 which is 90-9 or 81.

Let’s try a harder example: 46×9 = 46×10-46 = 460-46 = 414.

One more example: 68×9 = 680-68 = 612.

To multiply by 99, you multiply by 100-1.

So, 46×99 = 46x(100-1) = 4600-46 = 4554.

Multiplying by 999 is similar to multiplying by 9 and by 99.

38×999 = 38x(1000-1) = 38000-38 = 37962.

2. Multiplying by 11

To multiply a number by 11 you add pairs of numbers next to each other, except for the numbers
on the edges.

Let me illustrate:

To multiply 436 by 11 go from right to left.

First write down the 6 then add 6 to its neighbor on the left, 3, to get 9.

Write down 9 to the left of 6.

Then add 4 to 3 to get 7. Write down 7.

Then, write down the leftmost digit, 4.

So, 436×11 = is 4796.

Let’s do another example: 3254×11.

The answer comes from these sums and edge numbers: (3)(3+2)(2+5)(5+4)(4) = 35794.

One more example, this one involving carrying: 4657×11.

Write down the sums and edge numbers: (4)(4+6)(6+5)(5+7)(7).

Going from right to left we write down 7.

So we write down 2 and carry the 1.

6+5 = 11, plus the 1 we carried = 12.

So, we write down the 2 and carry the 1.

4+6 = 10, plus the 1 we carried = 11.

So, we write down the 1 and carry the 1.

To the leftmost digit, 4, we add the 1 we carried.

So, 4657×11 = 51227 .

3. Multiplying by 5, 25, or 125

Multiplying by 5 is just multiplying by 10 and then dividing by 2. Note: To multiply by 10 just

12×5 = (12×10)/2 = 120/2 = 60.

Another example: 64×5 = 640/2 = 320.

And, 4286×5 = 42860/2 = 21430.

To multiply by 25 you multiply by 100 (just add two 0′s to the end of the number) then divide by
4, since 100 = 25×4. Note: to divide by 4 your can just divide by 2 twice, since 2×2 = 4.

64×25 = 6400/4 = 3200/2 = 1600.

58×25 = 5800/4 = 2900/2 = 1450.

To multiply by 125, you multipy by 1000 then divide by 8 since 8×125 = 1000. Notice that 8 =
2x2x2. So, to divide by 1000 add three 0′s to the number and divide by 2 three times.

32×125 = 32000/8 = 16000/4 = 8000/2 = 4000.

48×125 = 48000/8 = 24000/4 = 12000/2 = 6000.

4. Multiplying together two numbers that differ by a small even number

This trick only works if you’ve memorized or can quickly calculate the squares of numbers. If
you’re able to memorize some squares and use the tricks described later for some kinds of
numbers you’ll be able to quickly multiply together many pairs of numbers that differ by 2, or 4,
or 6.

Let’s say you want to calculate 12×14.

When two numbers differ by two their product is always the square of the number in between
them minus 1.

12×14 = (13×13)-1 = 168.

16×18 = (17×17)-1 = 288.

99×101 = (100×100)-1 = 10000-1 = 9999

If two numbers differ by 4 then their product is the square of the number in the middle (the
average of the two numbers) minus 4.

11×15 = (13×13)-4 = 169-4 = 165.

13×17 = (15×15)-4 = 225-4 = 221.

If the two numbers differ by 6 then their product is the square of their average minus 9.

12×18 = (15×15)-9 = 216.

17×23 = (20×20)-9 = 391.

5. Squaring 2-digit numbers that end in 5

If a number ends in 5 then its square always ends in 25. To get the rest of the product take the
left digit and multiply it by one more than itself.

35×35 ends in 25. We get the rest of the product by multiplying 3 by one more than 3. So, 3×4 =
12 and that’s the rest of the product. Thus, 35×35 = 1225.

To calculate 65×65, notice that 6×7 = 42 and write down 4225 as the answer.

85×85: Calculate 8×9 = 72 and write down 7225.

6. Multiplying together 2-digit numbers where the first digits are the same and the last
digits sum to 10

Let’s say you want to multiply 42 by 48. You notice that the first digit is 4 in both cases. You
also notice that the other digits, 2 and 8, sum to 10. You can then use this trick: multiply the first
digit by one more than itself to get the first part of the answer and multiply the last digits
together to get the second (right) part of the answer.
An illustration is in order:

To calculate 42×48: Multiply 4 by 4+1. So, 4×5 = 20. Write down 20.

Multiply together the last digits: 2×8 = 16. Write down 16.

The product of 42 and 48 is thus 2016.

Notice that for this particular example you could also have noticed that 42 and 48 differ by 6 and
have applied technique number 4.

Another example: 64×66. 6×7 = 42. 4×6 = 24. The product is 4224.

A final example: 86×84. 8×9 = 72. 6×4 = 24. The product is 7224

7. Squaring other 2-digit numbers

Let’s say you want to square 58. Square each digit and write a partial answer. 5×5 = 25. 8×8 =
64. Write down 2564 to start. Then, multiply the two digits of the number you’re squaring
together, 5×8=40.

Double this product: 40×2=80, then add a 0 to it, getting 800.

Add 800 to 2564 to get 3364.

This is pretty complicated so let’s do more examples.

32×32. The first part of the answer comes from squaring 3 and 2.

3×3=9. 2×2 = 4. Write down 0904. Notice the extra zeros. It’s important that every square in the
partial product have two digits.

Multiply the digits, 2 and 3, together and double the whole thing. 2x3x2 = 12.

Add a zero to get 120. Add 120 to the partial product, 0904, and we get 1024.

56×56. The partial product comes from 5×5 and 6×6. Write down 2536.

5x6x2 = 60. Add a zero to get 600.

56×56 = 2536+600 = 3136.

One more example: 67×67. Write down 3649 as the partial product.

6x7x2 = 42×2 = 84. Add a zero to get 840.

8. Multiplying by doubling and halving

There are cases when you’re multiplying two numbers together and one of the numbers is even.
In this case you can divide that number by two and multiply the other number by 2. You can do
this over and over until you get to multiplication this is easy for you to do.

Let’s say you want to multiply 14 by 16. You can do this:

14×16 = 28×8 = 56×4 = 112×2 = 224.

Another example: 12×15 = 6×30 = 6×3 with a 0 at the end so it’s 180.

48×17 = 24×34 = 12×68 = 6×136 = 3×272 = 816. (Being able to calculate that 3×27 = 81 in your
head is very helpful for this problem.)

9. Multiplying by a power of 2

To multiply a number by 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or some other power of 2 just keep doubling the product
as many times as necessary. If you want to multiply by 16 then double the number 4 times since
16 = 2x2x2x2.

15×16: 15×2 = 30. 30×2 = 60. 60×2 = 120. 120×2 = 240.

Practice these tricks and you’ll get good at solving many different kinds of arithmetic problems
in your head, or at least quickly on paper. Half the fun is identifying which trick to use.
Sometimes more than one trick will apply and you’ll get to choose which one is easiest for a
particular problem.

Multiplication can be a great sport! Enjoy.