Monthly Archives: July 2015

Jul 16 2015

Multiplication Facts 0-10 Memory Tips

Multiplication Fives

MULTIPLICATION FACTS 0-12

When students learn multiplication, it starts out easy.

Too easy, as 0 times anything equals 0 (e.g. 0 x 8 = 0, while anything times 1 equals itself (e.g. 4 x 1 = 4).

But it doesn’t stay easy. Most students struggle to remember multiplication facts where one of the numbers is 6, 7, 8, or 9.

However, there are some tips to aid in memorization.

For one, mirror images don’t matter. The word for this is commutative.

This means 2 x 8 = 8 x 2, for example. Both equal 16.

So if you know 6 x 8 = 48, you also know that 8 x 6 = 48. You don’t need to memorize both.

One of the tricky multiplication facts is 7 x 8. But it’s easy if you remember the trick.

Remember 5678. These are 5 thru 8 in order. 56 = 7 x 8. Piece of cake, huh?

The 9’s are easy. The answer is one decade less than multiplying by 10, then make the two digits add up to 9.

For example, 9 x 7 is in the 60’s (because 10 x 7 = 70, one decade less is 60). It’s 63 since 6 + 3 = 9.

Another example is 5 x 9. It’s in the 40’s (one decade less than 5 x 10 = 50). It’s 45 since 4 + 5 = 9.

To do the trick, after you figure out the decade (by multiplying by 10 and then subtracting 10), subtract the tens digit from 9 to get the units digit.

For example, consider 9 x 6. Multiply 10 x 6 to get 60, and subtract 10 to make 50 (one decade less). Now subtract 5 (the tens digit of 50) from 9 to get 4. Therefore, 9 x 6 = 54.

Once you get the hang of it, this makes remembering the 9’s easy. Try out all the 9’s to get some practice.

If you’re good at doubling numbers quickly, try writing 6 as 2 x 3.

Then 6 x 7 = 2 x 3 x 7. If you know 3 x 7 = 21, double 21 to get 42.

Similarly, for 6 x 4 = 2 x 3 x 4, start with 3 x 4 = 12 and double 12 to make 24.

You can use the doubling trick for the 8’s, too. Just double the number 3 times.

For example, consider 5 x 8. Double 5 three times: 10, 20, 40. So 5 x 8 = 40.

Try 8 x 6. Double 6 three times: 12, 24, 48. Therefore, 8 x 6 = 48.

It works with the 4’s, also. Just double twice.

With 4 x 9, double 9 twice: 18, 36. So 4 x 9 = 36.

That leaves 7 x 7 = 49. You should know 7 x 9 from the 9’s trick.

You can make 7 x 6 and 7 x 8 from the doubling tricks. (The latter you can also know from the 5678 trick.)

5 and under are easier. So to complete the 7’s, you really just need to memorize 7 x 7 = 49.

This covers the 6 thru 9’s, which tend to be the trickier multiplication facts.

The 10’s and 11’s are easy. For the 10’s, just add a zero, as in 8 x 10 = 80 or 6 x 10 = 60.

For the 11’s, with 1 thru 9 just double the digits, like 3 x 11 =33 or 11 x 8 = 88. Get 11 x 10 = 110 from the 10’s trick (add a zero). Then you just need to memorize that 11 x 11 = 121 to complete the 11’s.

You can get the 12’s by doubling the 6’s. For example, knowing that 6 x 5 = 30, you can find that 12 x 5 = 60 by doubling 6 x 5.

Do you know any other tips for remembering multiplication facts 0-12? If so, please share them in the comments.

CHRIS MCMULLEN, PH.D.

Copyright © 2015 Chris McMullen, author of the Improve Your Math Fluency series of math workbooks

  • arithmetic facts
  • multi-digit arithmetic
  • long division with remainders
  • fractions, decimals, and percents
  • algebra and trigonometry
Jul 4 2015

Fibonacci Sequence & a Cool Pattern

Image from ShutterStock.

Image from ShutterStock.

FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

The Fibonacci sequence adds consecutive terms:

  • 1
  • 1
  • 1 + 1 = 2
  • 2 + 1 = 3
  • 3 + 2 = 5
  • 5 + 3 = 8
  • 8 + 5 = 13
  • 13 + 8 = 21
  • 21 + 13 = 34
  • 34 + 21 = 55
  • 55 + 34 = 89

Since the last two terms were 55 and 89, we would add these together to get 89 + 55 = 144.

Then you would add 144 and 89 to make 233, and so on.

I saw a cool pattern involving the Fibonacci sequence recently at the Mathemagical Site:

Fibonacci Triples via Mathemagical Site

This involves Fibonacci triples.

A Fibonacci triple consists of three consecutive numbers from the Fibonacci sequence, such as:

  • 1, 1, 2
  • 1, 2, 3
  • 2, 3, 5
  • 3, 5, 8
  • 5, 8, 13
  • 8, 13, 21
  • 13, 21, 34

As shown on the Mathemagical Site, the square of the middle number is always one less or one more than the product of the first and third numbers:

FT

Here are a few examples:

  • (2, 3, 5): 3 x 3 = 2 x 5 – 1
  • (3, 5, 8): 5 x 5 = 3 x 8 + 1
  • (5, 8, 13): 8 x 8 = 5 x 13 – 1

Curious about this, I’ve been working through the algebra, and finally came up with an algebraic proof, which follows.

My proof is algebraic and not necessarily obvious, but since I worked it out, I thought I would share it here. 🙂

We begin with two facts about the Fibonacci sequence:

FT3

These are two different ways of saying that if you add two consecutive numbers from the Fibonacci sequence, you get the next number in the sequence.

Now solve for xn in each sequence:

FT4

Multiply these together:

FT2

Foil this out:

FT5

Recall that

FT6

Plug this into the first term on the right-hand side of the previous equation:

FT7

Distribute:

FT8

Two of these terms cancel (the remaining terms are rearranged):

FT9

Believe it or not, this basically concludes the proof. The remainder is basically interpreting this result.

This is a recursion relation that relates the square of the n-th term to the square of the previous term (xn-1 times itself).

Following is the Fibonacci sequence, labeling values of n:

  • n = 1 is 1.
  • n = 2 is 1.
  • n = 3 is 2.
  • n = 4 is 3.
  • n = 5 is 5.
  • n = 6 is 8.
  • n = 7 is 13.
  • n = 8 is 21.

Let’s plug in n = 3 and see what happens:

FT10

If instead you plug in n = 4, you get:

Ft11

Now just plug in these two expressions (x3x3 – x4x2 and x4x4 – x5x3) into the previous recursion relation and you can prove that all of the Fibonacci triples satisfy one of the following relations:

FT

That is, if x3x3 – x4x2 = 1 and x4x4 – x5x3 = -1, the previous recursion relation gives similar expressions for x5x5 – x6x4, x6x6 – x7x5, and so on.

CHRIS MCMULLEN, PH.D.

Copyright © 2015 Chris McMullen, author of the Improve Your Math Fluency series of math workbooks

  • Algebra Essentials Practice Workbook with Answers
  • Trigonometry Essentials Practice Workbook with Answers
  • Learn or Review Trigonometry: Essential Skills