Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Quick division by 9

Before we go into the division technique, let s take a closer look at the number 9. In the number system base "10", number 9 =(base system no-1) ie it s one less than the base number. This observation leads us to its another property ie the divisibility rule of 9. To check if a number is divisible by 9, we just add up the digits of the number. If that sum is divisible by 9, the original number is also divisible by 9. Another corollary to this is, if we get a remainder when we divide the sum of digits by 9, then that remainder would be the remainder when we divide the original number by 9.

Example : 558 / 9
5+5+8 = 18 is the sum of the digits
now, divide this by 9 => 18/9 gives remainder 0, hence 558 is divisible by 9.

278 /9
2+7+8 = 17 is the sum of the digits
now,divide this by 9 => 17/9 gives remainder 8, hence 278/9 will also give a remainder of 8.

Now, that we are done with the remainder concept, how do we find the quotient then ???
That is lot more easy than the above method.

Example : 132/9
Write down the digits of the number 132.
On the next line, write the first digit of the number, next digit will be this number plus the next digit(add diagonally), and this pattern continues.


1    3    2
↓➚↓➚↓
1    4    6

In this 14 is the quotient and 6 is the remainder !


5    5    8
↓➚↓➚↓
5 10 18

Since the second digit in the result is 10, add 1 to the 5, hence it ll be like

6 0 18

18 is still divisible by 9, giving 2 as the quotient, add it to 60 giving 60+2 =62 this is the quotient and 0 is the remainder !


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Squaring a 2 digit number - revisited

When my husband and I were playing around with the nos, he discovered a new smart shortcut to find squares of nos.

Example : 69




1. Add the unit digit '9' to the no itself
9+69= 78
2. Multiply this with the ten s digit '6' of the original no
6*78=468
3. Square the unit s digit of the original no and append at the end after shifting it once to left
4680 || 9^2 = 4680 || 81 = 4761

This method can very well be extended to higher digit nos too !

Monday, January 4, 2010

Squaring a no ending with 5

In this post,let s learn how to square a number that ends with the digit '5'.
Using examples to learn a method is always easy, so let s consider the squaring of the no '45'.

For all the nos ending with 5, the squared resultant no will have 25 as its last 2 digits. So, resultant must in the pattern _____25, what comes in the blank is calculated as follows. Remove the '5' from '45', we are left with '4', multiply it with its consecutive no, being '5', which gives 4*5=20. This '20' is filled in the above blank, hence giving the resultant to be 2025 !!!
Another example : 75
Pattern : ____ 25
7*8=56, hence resultant would be 5625.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pythagorean Triplet

To find a pythagorean triplet, we take an odd no, say 13(first member of the triplet), square it, it is 169. Now, we got to divide this squared no by 2, hence it is 169/2, which gives us 84 as quotient. This 84 is the second member in the triplet. Add 1 to it, giving us 84+1=85, which being the last member in the pythagorean triplet.

So, it s 13-84-85 !

Friday, December 11, 2009

Squaring a 2 digit number

The basis of this short cut to find a square of any 2 digit no is the algebraic equation
(a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2

For eg : If the no 43 has to be squared, then
(40+3)^2 = 40^2 + 2*40*3 + 3^2

Since the first part 40^2 can be easily resolved, adding up of the RHS of the equation gives the resultant.
I believe an addition always comes to aid better than a multiplication in the last few crucial moments of the exams !

Monday, December 7, 2009

Multiplying with 11 & 13 is facile...

When we memorize our math tables, tables 1 to 10 always seem easy, problem creeps in when we start the tables with 2 digits.
I love the number 11, let me show why..
Lets take any no, say 432, when we multiply this no with 11, result is 4752.

Usual way to do is
432
x 11
---------
432
432x
---------
4752



What we do is shift the no left once and add it up to the original no to get the resultant.
Much easier method : 11 x 432 is 4 4+3 3+2 2
Pattern is to just add the digit before it to each place holder.

In case you get a carry over on adding, it gets added to the next digit on the right
11 x 379 is 3 3+7 7+9 9 = 4169

For a 13 multiplication follow the same procedure to find the multiple of 11 and add the double of original no to it, voila :D

13 x abc = 11 x abc + 2 x abc

Friday, December 4, 2009

Maths & Blogging !!??

If you had happened to stumble on this blog, you are wondering why would anyone write a blog on maths. First things first, I m an ardent maths lover and this is an initiative to appease my love for maths. And I needed a BIG push from my spouse before I started to jolt down this blog. Thanks to him.

The war between Science and Maths dates back to good olden times.I want to make my stands clear, this is not a blog against Science but a blog that is going to make Maths easy and clear. A little shortcuts here and there is going to make Maths, a loveable one....