Math Tricks Grades 6 Only

Sixth Grade Math Tricks
1. Multiplication and zeroes. When multiplying two numbers, ignore all ending zeroes, do the multiplication,
and then add the zeroes back onto the answer.
Example: For 4000·300, we multiply 4 times 3, and then add on the 5 zeroes giving a result of 1,200,000.
2. Division and Zeroes. When dividing two numbers that both end in zeroes, cancel the same number of
ending zeroes from each of the two numbers, then do the division problem.
Example: For 24000÷600, we cancel two zeroes from both numbers, and then divide 240 by 6 to get 40.
3. Multiplying and Dividing by 10, 100, 1000, etc. Simply move the decimal point!
Example: 634.6÷100 = 6.346 We move the decimal point 2 places because there are 2 zeroes in 100.
Example: 48.37·1000 = 48370 The decimal point gets moved 3 places since there are 3 zeroes in 1000.
4. Adding Numbers by Grouping. Search for digits that add up to 10 or 20.
Example: For 97 + 86 + 13 + 42 + 54, we see that with the ones' digits we can add 7 + 3 and 6 + 4 to make
ten twice, leaving the 2 (from the 42) left over. The sum of the ones' column is therefore 22. In
the tens' column, the carry of 2 combines with the 8 to form 10, as does the 9 and the 1. We are
left with the 4 and 5. The tens' column is therefore 29. Our answer is 292.
5. Multiplying by 4. You can instead double the number two times.
Example: For 4·35, we double 35 to get 70, and double again to get a result of 140.
6. Multiplying a 2-digit number by 11. Separate the digits, and then insert the sum of the digits in-between.
Example: For 62·11, 6 plus 2 is 8, so we place the 8 between the 6 and the 2, giving a result of 682.
Example: For 75·11, 7 plus 5 is 12, so we place the 2 between the 7 and 5 and carry the 1, giving 825.
7. Multiplying two numbers that are just over 100. First write down a 1, then next to the one we write down
the sum of how far above 100 the two numbers are, and then the product of how far above 100 the two
numbers are. Both the sum and the product must be two digits.
Example: For 105·102, add 5 plus 2 (to get 07), and then multiply 5 times 2 (to get 10), giving 10710.
Example: For 112·107, we do 12 + 7 (19) and then 12·7 (84), which leads to an answer of 11984.
8. Dividing by 4. You can instead cut the number in half, two times.
Example: For 64÷4, we take half of 64 to get 32, and then take half of that for a result of 16.
9. Subtraction by Adding Distances. Pick an "easy" number between the two numbers, and add the distances
from each of the numbers to the easy number.
Example: For 532−497, choose 500 as the easy number. The distance from 532 to 500 is 32 and the
distance from 497 to 500 is 3. The answer is therefore 32+3, which is 35.
10. Division by Nines. When dividing two numbers where the divisor's digits are all nines, we get a decimal
where the dividend repeats, but the number of repeating digits must be equal to the number of nines.
Example: 38÷99 = 0.¯¯ 38 Example: 417÷999 = 0.¯¯¯ 417 Example: 62÷999 = 0.¯¯¯ 062
11. Multiplying by Nines.
Method #1: Multiply by 10, 100, or 1000, and then subtract the original number.
Example: For 47·99, we do 100·47 − 47, which is 4700−47, giving an answer of 4653.
Method #2 (for single digits): Multiply the single digit by 9, which gives us a two-digit answer. Then
separate these two digits and insert one less nine than what was in the original problem.
Example: For 8·9999, we multiply 8 times 9, which gives us 72. Then we insert three nines between
the 7 and the 2, giving a final answer of 79,992.
12. Reducing before Dividing. Any division problem is viewed as a fraction that can often be reduced.
Example: For 3500÷2800, we reduce the fraction to 5/4, which is 1¼ or 1.25.
13. Multiplying by 5. You take half the number, and then add a zero, or move the decimal point.
Example: For 5·26, we take half of 26 to get 13, and then add a zero, giving us a result of 130.
Example: For 5·4.18, half of 4.18 is 2.09, and moving the decimal point to the right one place gives 20.9.
14. Dividing by 5. Double the number, and then divide by ten (move the decimal one place to the left).
Example: For 80÷5, we double 80 and then chop off a zero, giving a result of 16.
Example: For 93÷5, we double 93 and then move the decimal point one place to the left to get 18.6.

Math Tricks Grades 6 Only

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Sixth Grade Math Tricks

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