The Times Tables
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Want to watch animated videos and solve interactive exercises about the times tables?
What Is Multiplication?
Multiplication can be defined in the following way: Assume that you have a number a (where a can be any number). If you add a to itself b times, that can be written like this:
| a+a+⋯+a⏟b times |
This can be tiresome in the long run, especially when b becomes large. That’s where multiplication enters the picture. By definition, the sum above can also be written like this:
| a+a+⋯+a⏟b times=b×a |
This means that a added to itself b times is the same as a multiplied by b.
The numbers that are multiplied together are called factors, and the answer is called a product.
Rule
Multiplication
| factor×factor=product |
This might look a little odd—it might not be how you learned about multiplication before. So here’s an example to clarify.
Example 1
You want to add 3 to itself 5 times
This can be written as
| 3+3+3+3+3⏟5 times |
but if you use the definition above, it can also be written as
| 5×3=15 |
Multiplication problems with whole numbers (integers) between 1 and 10 are organized in the times tables. You should learn this table by heart.
Rule
Three Important Rules for Multiplication
- 1.
- a×b=b×a. It does not matter what order the numbers are written in when you multiply—you get the same answer either way!
- 2.
- Anything multiplied by 0 is 0. For example, 5×0×20=0.
- 3.
- If you multiply something by 1, it doesn’t change. For example, 32×1=32.
