How_To_Be_Good_At_Math

116 CALCULATING •^ SHORT MULTIPLICATION

Short multiplication

Now we’re going to look at another method of short multiplication.

This is quicker than expanded short multiplication (which we looked

at on pages 114-15) because instead of writing the ones, tens, and

hundreds in our answer on separate lines and then adding them

up, we put them all on one line.

Let’s use short multiplication to multiply

736 by 4.

Start by writing the two numbers out

like this, with digits that have the

same place values lined up one above

the other. It might help you to label the

place values, but you don’t have to.

Now we’re going to multiply each of the

digits on the top row by the number 4

on the bottom row.

First, multiply 6 ones by 4 ones. The

answer is 24 ones. Write the 4 in the

ones column. The 2 stands for 2 tens, so

we carry it over into the tens column to

add on at the next stage.

736

4

Write the

numbers so

that the digits

with the same

place values are

lined up like this

H T O

×

Th

736

4

We’re going to

multiply each

digit on the top

row by 4

H T O

×

Th

Multiply 6 ones

by 4 ones

736 × 4 =?

×

Th H T O

736

4

4

2

2 tens are

carried into the

tens column

116_117_Short_multiplication.indd 116 29/02/2016 14:11