Times Table Trick - Learn your times tables instantly!, by tecmath on YouTube. 4 min 28 s.
- Video length
- 4 min 28 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 7
What you need
Steps
Hold both hands in front of you with the palms facing your face. Label each finger from 6 to 10, starting at the thumb: thumb is 6, index 7, middle 8, ring 9, little finger 10.
Choose a sum you find hard, such as 7 x 8. Touch the finger labelled 7 on your left hand to the finger labelled 8 on your right hand.
Count the two touching fingers plus every finger below them, on both hands. Each of those fingers is worth ten. For 7 x 8 that is 2 plus 3, so 5 fingers, which means 50.
Now look at the fingers above the touching pair. Count them separately on each hand. For 7 x 8 you have 3 fingers up on the left and 2 on the right.
Multiply those two small numbers and add the result to your tens. Here 3 x 2 = 6, and 50 + 6 = 56, so 7 x 8 = 56.
Work through the rest of the set the same way, one sum at a time: 6 x 6, 6 x 7, 6 x 8, 6 x 9, 7 x 7, 7 x 9, 8 x 8, 8 x 9, 9 x 9 and 10 x 10.
Check each answer against one you already know. For example, 10 x 10 should give all ten fingers below, so 100 and nothing to add.
Tips and common mistakes
The trick only covers the 6 to 10 tables. Use skip counting or plain recall for the 1 to 5 tables.
The most common mistake is forgetting to count the two touching fingers themselves in the tens total.
Practise five sums a day out loud, saying the tens and the units separately, until the answers come without counting.
Write your answers on paper at first so you can spot a slip before the wrong number sticks.
Questions
Does this hand trick work for 1 to 5 times tables?
No. It is built for sums where both numbers are between 6 and 10. For lower tables, use counting in steps or memorise them with flash cards.
Why does the finger method give the right answer?
Each number from 6 to 10 is 5 plus the fingers above the touching finger. Multiplying two such numbers always splits into tens from the fingers below and a small product from the fingers above.
What if I have to do 10 x 10?
Your little fingers touch and every finger sits below them, so you count 10 tens, which is 100, and there are no fingers above to multiply. The answer is 100.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
