9/25/2018 10 Tricks for Doing Math Quickly in Your Head

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By The Room 241 Team • November 21, 2012

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You don’t have to be a math teacher to know that a lot of

students—and likely a lot of parents (it’s been awhile!)—are
intimidated by math problems, especially if they involve
large numbers. Learning techniques on how to do math
quickly can help students develop greater confidence in
math, improve math skills and understanding, and excel in
advanced courses.

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9/25/2018 10 Tricks for Doing Math Quickly in Your Head

If it’s your job to teach those, here’s a great refresher.

10 tricks for doing fast math

Here are 10 fast math strategies students (and adults!) can
use to do math in their heads. Once these strategies are
mastered, students should be able to accurately and
confidently solve math problems that they once feared
solving.

1. Adding large numbers

Adding large numbers just in your head can be di icult. This
method shows how to simplify this process by making all the
numbers a multiple of 10. Here is an example:

644 + 238

While these numbers are hard to contend with, rounding

them up will make them more manageable. So, 644
becomes 650 and 238 becomes 240.

Now, add 650 and 240 together. The total is 890. To find the
answer to the original equation, it must be determined how
much we added to the numbers to round them up.

650 – 644 = 6 and 240 – 238 = 2

Now, add 6 and 2 together for a total of 8

To find the answer to the original equation, 8 must be

subtracted from the 890.

890 – 8 = 882

So the answer to 644 +238 is 882.

2. Subtracting from 1,000

Here’s a basic rule to subtract a large number from 1,000:
Subtract every number except the last from 9 and subtract
the final number from 10

For example:
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9/25/2018 10 Tricks for Doing Math Quickly in Your Head

1,000 – 556

Step 1: Subtract 5 from 9 = 4

Step 2: Subtract 5 from 9 = 4

Step 3: Subtract 6 from 10 = 4

The answer is 444.

3. Multiplying 5 times any number

When multiplying the number 5 by an even number, there is
a quick way to find the answer.

For example, 5 x 4 =

Step 1: Take the number being multiplied by 5 and cut it in

half, this makes the number 4 become the number 2.
Step 2: Add a zero to the number to find the answer. In
this case, the answer is 20.

5 x 4 = 20

When multiplying an odd number times 5, the formula is a

bit di erent.

For instance, consider 5 x 3.

Step 1: Subtract one from the number being multiplied by

5, in this instance the number 3 becomes the number 2.
Step 2: Now halve the number 2, which makes it the
number 1. Make 5 the last digit. The number produced is
15, which is the answer.

5 x 3 = 15

4. Division tricks
Here’s a quick way to know when a number can be evenly
divided by these certain numbers:

10 if the number ends in 0

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9/25/2018 10 Tricks for Doing Math Quickly in Your Head

9 when the digits are added together and the total is

evenly divisible by 9
8 if the last three digits are evenly divisible by 8 or are 000
6 if it is an even number and when the digits are added
together the answer is evenly divisible by 3
5 if it ends in a 0 or 5
4 if it ends in 00 or a two digit number that is evenly
divisible by 4
3 when the digits are added together and the result is
evenly divisible by the number 3
2 if it ends in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8

5. Multiplying by 9
This is an easy method that is helpful for multiplying any
number by 9. Here is how it works:

Let’s use the example of 9 x 3.

Step 1: Subtract 1 from the number that is being multiplied

by 9.

3–1=2

The number 2 is the first number in the answer to the

equation.

Step 2: Subtract that number from the number 9.

9–2=7

The number 7 is the second number in the answer to the

equation.

So, 9 x 3 = 27

6. 10 and 11 times tricks

The trick to multiplying any number by 10 is to add a zero to
the end of the number. For example, 62 x 10 = 620.

There is also an easy trick for multiplying any two-digit

number by 11. Here it is:

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9/25/2018 10 Tricks for Doing Math Quickly in Your Head

11 x 25

Take the original two-digit number and put a space between

the digits. In this example, that number is 25.

2_5

Now add those two numbers together and put the result in
the center:

2_(2 + 5)_5

2_7_5

The answer to 11 x 25 is 275.

If the numbers in the center add up to a number with two

digits, insert the second number and add 1 to the first one.
Here is an example for the equation 11 x 88

8_(8 +8)_8

(8 + 1)_6_8

9_6_8

There is the answer to 11 x 88: 968

7. Percentage
Finding a percentage of a number can be somewhat tricky,
but thinking about it in the right terms makes it much easier
to understand. For instance, to find out what 5% of 235 is,
follow this method:

Step 1: Move the decimal point over by one place, 235

becomes 23.5.
Step 2: Divide 23.5 by the number 2, the answer is 11.75.
That is also the answer to the original equation.

8. Quickly square a two-digit number that

ends in 5
Let’s use the number 35 as an example.

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Step 1: Multiply the first digit by itself plus 1.

Step 2: Put a 25 at the end.

35 squared = [3 x (3 + 1)] & 25

[3 x (3 + 1)] = 12

12 & 25 = 1225

35 squared = 1225

9. Tough multiplication
When multiplying large numbers, if one of the numbers is
even, divide the first number in half, and then double the
second number. This method will solve the problem quickly.
For instance, consider

20 x 120

Step 1: Divide the 20 by 2, which equals 10. Double 120,

which equals 240.

Then multiply your two answers together.

10 x 240 = 2400

The answer to 20 x 120 is 2,400.

10. Multiplying numbers that end in zero

Multiplying numbers that end in zero is actually quite
simple. It involves multiplying the other numbers together
and then adding the zeros at the end. For instance, consider:

200 x 400

Step 1: Multiply the 2 times the 4

2x4=8

Step 2: Put all four of the zeros a er the 8

80,000

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200 x 400= 80,000

Practicing these fast math tricks can help both students and
teachers improve their math skills and become secure in
their knowledge of mathematics—and unafraid to work with
numbers in the future.

You may also like to read

Basic Math Teaching Strategies

Tips in Teaching a Hands-On Math Curriculum

5 Tips to Help Get Students Engaged in High

School Math

3 Tips for Running an Elementary School Math

Workshop

Seven Everyday Online Math Resources for

Teachers

Three Tips for Developing Elementary Math

Tests

Tags: Math and Science, Mathematics

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