DO! Count On Your Fingers

Example: 6 x 9. Put the finger representing 6 down (the right hand thumb). To the left of the down finger, you have 5 fingers up. That's your tens digit. 5. To the right, you have 4 fingers up. There's your ones digit. 4. Put those together and you have your answer: 54. Multiplying by 6-10 This one is a little tricky. I'll try my best to explain it. Hold out your hands in front of you so that your thumbs point toward one another. Visualize that both thumbs represent 6, both index fingers 7, and so on until both pinky fingers represent 10. In other words, imagine that each thumb has a 6 written on it, each index a finger a 7, etc., so that you have 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 on the left hand and 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 on the right hand. This set up will allow us to multiply any combination of those numbers, for example 7 x 8. Here's how it works. Let's do 7 x 8. Take your index finger representing 7 on your left hand and touch the middle finger representing 8 on your right hand. As you do this, keep your thumbs pointing down. Add all the fingers BELOW, and including, the two fingers touching. In this case, your total is 5 - your index finger and thumb on your left hand plus your middle finger, index finger and thumb on your right hand. Multiply that number by 10. We get 50. Now count all the fingers on each hand ABOVE, but NOT including, the two fingers touching. In this case you have 3 on the left hand and 2 on the right. Multiply these two numbers. We get 6. Add the two numbers toegther for your answer: 50 + 6 = 56. That's the answer! Granted, most people don't need to use their fingers to do common multiplications such as 7 x 8 or 6 x 9. But trying to figure out why these finger methods work is pretty fun to ponder! Visit this site for more info on Chisenbop. ________________________________________ If you like CuriousMath.com, here's a book you'll love: http://www.curiousmath.com/images/books/julius2.gif"; WIDTH=92 HEIGHT=140 BORDER=1> Learn more about More Rapid Math Tricks and Tips: 30 Days to Number Mastery http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~aharris/chis/chis.html http://www.curiousmath.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8

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