Dear Kids and Parents
- Did Multiplication Tables bother you in junior classes?
- Did you find carrying forward 10s and doing subtraction a difficult task?
- Was Division difficult?
- Was adding several single digit numbers also tough?
- Were squaring of numbers, square roots of numbers and then cubing of numbers and finding their cube roots a tough task?
If you said YES to most or all of the above questions then this article on Speed Maths is especially written for you. This article will help you overcome your fear of Maths and help you emerge as Maths champions! The objective is to help kids get over their fear of basic Maths which will help them stand in good stead in the higher classes plus also help them in competitive exams such as the CAT for the IIMs and the CSAT for the Civil Services.
What does the word Maths mean?
The word Maths actually means to learn. Interestingly a similar word – Polymath – means a person who has varied knowledge.
The word Poly meaning many and the word math meaning learning or knowledge.
10 Maths Concepts which we all used in School Maths but never bothered to find out what they mean?
Q1 What is the Horizontal Bar so frequently used in Maths Called ?
- The Horizontal Bar in between the Numerator and the Denominator
- Horizontal Bar above the Radix Sign or the Square Root Sign such as
- Horizontal Bar above repeating Decimals 0.
Q2 What is the Symbol for Infinity called ? ∞
Q3 What is the Symbol for the Division sign called ? ÷
Q4 When was the = sign introduced in Maths and what did Mathematicians do before the = sign was introduced?
Q5 What word describes the symbol for approximate value in Maths? ≈
Q6 What is the word which describes the less than and greater than symbols in Maths < >
Q7 Natural Numbers are denoted by the letter N, Whole Numbers by the letter W but the set of Integers is denoted by the Letter Z. Why the Letter Z? What does Z stand for?
Q8 Why are Rational Numbers denoted by the Letter Q?
Q9 Why are Irrational Numbers denoted by /Q or ~Q?
Q10 What does the letter ∫ and the letters dx in Integral Calculus mean? Who used them for the first time?
Answers to the Quiz Questions
A1 Vinculum – its Latin which means to tie or bind
A2 Lemniscate is the Symbol for Infinity
A3 Obelus – Symbol for Division Sign
A4 1650 AD – first used by the Scottish Mathematician David Ricardo – before that Mathematicians would write the words – is equal to
A5 Tilde – on the keyboard you will find it just left of the 1 numeric key
A6 Guillemets – French Word
A7 Zahalen – German for Integers
A8 Q stands for Quotient – since Rational Numbers can be written in p/q form and hence a Quotient can be obtained.
A9 /Q stands for Negation Q – meaning those numbers which are not under the Set Q
A10 Latin Long S which means Summa (short for Summation). dx stands for infinitesimally small particles which have been differentiated and are now being added together. Leibnitz used it for the first time.
Vedic Speed Maths – Addition
Unlike conventional addition wherein we begin addition from top to bottom, in Vedic Maths numbers are added from bottom to top.
Also any 10s are dropped and shown as a horizontal bar like this -. This simplifies addition and makes for error free addition.
Add the following 5 Single Digit numbers
8
9
7
6
| Step 1 | Add 6+7 = 13
Drop the 1 as a horizontal bar and carry forward just the number 3 |
| Step 2 | Add 3+9 = 12
Drop the 1 as a horizontal bar and carry forward 2 |
| Step 3 | Add 2+8 = 10
Drop the 1 as a Horizontal bar and simply write the last digit 0 at the bottom for the last digit of the answer |
| Step 4 | Count the number of Horizontal bars and simply write down the number 3 in front of 0 |
| Step 5 | Final Answer is 30 |
Vedic Speed Maths – Subtraction
Steps
1st Rule In Vedic Maths always subtract a smaller digit from a bigger digit such as 9-5, 5-4 etc
2nd Rule When the bigger digit is on the top, simply subtract
When the bigger digit is at the bottom, subtract but add a horizontal bar on top of the result like or
So when you have 99 – 55, you would write the result as 44
But when you are doing 55-99, you would write the result as
3rd Rule In the final result, you lower the number to the left of any number with a bar on top by 1
4th Rule The Rule of Subtract all from 9s and the last from 10
Let’s look at the above rules collectively by doing a simple subtraction
9 2 8 7 6 4 2
- 7 5 9 8 4 8 1
2 2 1
Step 1
1 6 8 9 1 6 1 Final Answer
Vedic Speed Maths – Multiplication
Squaring of Numbers ending in the number 5 – that is multiplying a number ending in 5 by itself such as 25 x 25 or 35 x 35
The Rule is very very simple
Simply add 25 to the Right Hand Side of the Result
For the Left side of the Result all you need to do is multiply the number to the left of 5 by the next higher number
Examples
25 x 25 = (2 x 3) 25 = 625
35 x 35 = (3 x 4) 25 = 1225
95 x 95 = (9 x 10) 25 = 9025
Even triple digit numbers can be done in a similar fashion
Lets say we wish to square 105 or do 105 x 105
105 x 105 = (10 x 11) 25 = 11025
Try the following examples
65 x 65 75 x 75 85 x 85
Squaring numbers beginning with the digit 5 such as 51 x 51 54 x 54
Simply square the digit to the right of 5 and write it down
In case of 54 x 54, it will be 16
Next square 5 which is 25 and add the digit 4 to the right of 5 – so that’s 25+4 = 29
The final answer is 2916
Try 56 x 56 59 x 59
Multiplying by 11
Say we wish to multiply 34 x 11
Simply write 3 and 8 at the extreme ends as 3 4
In the middle simply add 3+4 3 ( 3+4) 4
Final Answer is 374
So 27 x 11 is 2 (2+7) 7 = 297
In case there is a carry forward case such as say 57 x 11
5 (5+7) 7 = 5 (12)7
Carry forward the 1 from 12 and add it to the 5
Final Answer will be 627
Multiplying by 99
99 x 28
Simply write the number 1 less than 28 which is 27 on the left hand side
Next what number if added to 27 will make it 99 – that is 72
Write 72 on the right hand side
So 99 x 28 becomes 2772
Similarly 99 x 65 = 6435
There are several quick tricks under Multiplication which are taught through Vedic Maths.
