Multiplication - The Faster Way To Add

Sadly, like most elements of the math education system multiplication is taught in a way that is largely divorced from reality. It is something to be studied and slaved over when in school, and then abandoned immediately straight after the final maths exam.

Let's try take multiplication back to basics, and look at it not just as a method but as a useful tool. When most people hear the word 'multiplication', they probably think of multiplication tables and hours of learning by rote. While multiplication tables are very useful, they tend to distract people from the essential aim of multiplication. At heart, multiplication is simply a faster way to add.



Take a look at the picture below.

If you are presented with 4 boxes, each holding 10 pencils, how do you know how many pencils you have?

You have two options:

1. The Slow Way: You can add 10 + 10 + 10 + 10.
2. The Fast Way: Multiply 10 x 4.

Multiplication is just a quicker way to add up 'blocks' of numbers. 

I find the boxes images helps a lot with this visualisation. The expression: 

                           7 x 6

is just a shorthand way of saying 'I have 7 boxes of 6 items'. When you read the mathematical symbols above aloud or in your head, it is a good idea to say 'seven sixes'. Read the Building Blocks post titled Step by Step Multiplication to get a better look at the methods used to work out multiplication problems.