What are some of the ways I can improve my mathematics mental skills?
Asked by
Eggie (
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February 11th, 2012
I was a bartender once, but I have made some mistakes in my calculation of money and giving of change while I saw other people working there calculated much better than me.How can I improve on my mental calculation and speed?
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2 Answers
I didnt know that mathematics required metal skills.
Good things to make sure you know easily is which two numbers match up to make 10 or 100 or 1000 etc. e.g. if you see a 3 you will automatically think 7 or if you see 45 you think 55 (good for giving change from notes) this then breaks up the change. e.g. if you get given a $20 note to pay for $5.98 then the $10 is a given then you only have to see the change from the $10, this makes it much easier for me to pair numbers together to give change. Also try putting maths such as times tables to songs maybe. My old teacher used to make us sing our times tables to silly tunes but I do still remember the songs today 15 years on.
This is my thought process for multiplication and how I can do stuff in my head. The same types of tricks can be applied to addition and subtraction.
16 * 8 = ?
10 * 8 = 80
6 * 8 = 48
80 + 48 = 128
example 2:
9 * 33 = ?
9 * 30 = 270
9 * 3 = 27
270 + 27 = 297
Just break it down to easier to manage chunks.
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