Times tables and multiplying

Multiplying is a fast way of adding the same number many times. Six boxes of 4 eggs hold 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 24 eggs, and 6 × 4 = 24 says the same thing in one step. People have learned times tables for a very long time: the oldest known times table that counts in tens, as we do, was written on strips of bamboo in China about 2,300 years ago. Once you know the tables up to 12, you can multiply much bigger numbers in your head by splitting them into parts.

What multiplying means

6 × 4 means 6 groups of 4. The answer is called the product. The order does not matter: 6 groups of 4 and 4 groups of 6 are both 24. So 7 × 8 and 8 × 7 are the same fact, and you only need to learn about half of the table.

Patterns that make the tables easy

You do not have to learn 144 facts one by one. Most of the table can be built from a few easy ones.

After these patterns, only a few facts are left. These are the ones people find hardest, so it is worth learning them by heart:

• 6 × 7 = 42
• 6 × 8 = 48
• 7 × 7 = 49
• 7 × 8 = 56 (say 5, 6, 7, 8: 56 = 7 × 8)
• 8 × 8 = 64

Multiplying a bigger number by splitting it

To multiply a two-digit number by a one-digit number, split the big number into tens and ones. Multiply each part, then add the two results. To multiply tens, multiply the digits and put a zero after: 30 × 6 is 3 × 6 = 18, so it is 180.

1. Split the two-digit number into tens and ones.
2. Multiply the tens by the small number.
3. Multiply the ones by the small number.
4. Add the two answers.

Tricks for special numbers

Some numbers are close to 10, 100 or 1000, or fit together to make them. Then there is a much faster way. Use these after you are sure of the plain method.