Today I will show you a trick to quickly multiply two two digit numbers together in a few seconds. You will notice that this multiplication technique is a piece of cake.
Example 1: calculate 12 × 14
Recall to place one number above the other, in that way, the ones place digits are line up. Then draw a line under the bottom number.
Step 1: multiply the ones place digits
First, multiply the ones place digits, 4 × 2, and write the product. Take a look at the image below.
Step 2: multiply in the middle
Then comes the cross multiplication (crisscross), start with 1 × 2 = 2, then multiply 1 × 4 = 4.
Finally, add the products 2 + 4 = 6. Don’t forget to write that 6, is our middle digit.
Step 3: multiply the tens place digits
In the third step, multiply the digits in the tens place column, 1 × 1, and write the product.
We finish, our final answer is 168.
With some practice, you will multiply two digits numbers together mentally. Fortunately, the technique I showed you today is not a particular case, it always works with 2 digit multiplication problems.
Video
In the following video, we will review this multiplication trick.
And here you will find another example:
Finally, an example with carrying:
That’s all for today, see you next lesson.