Multiplication is one of the four basic arithmetic operations.
Multiplication means putting equal groups together to get a total. Or we can say that the basic idea of multiplication is repeated addition.
Let us understand with the help of an example.
There are 5 pencils in a box. We can say this is a group of 5 pencils. Now, consider two boxes of pencils. These are 2 groups of 5 pencils each. How many total pencils are there in both boxes together? 5 in one box and 5 in the other box so, 5 + 5 i.e. 10 in total.
Look at these three groups of toy cars.
To find the total number of toy cars, the same number is added again and again i.e. 3 + 3 + 3 = 9.
Let's take another example of a shop, where the shopkeeper has to count the number of candies in 7 jars. Each jar has 6 candies.
Now, to solve this, the shopkeeper can make use of the 'Addition' operation.
Total candies in 7 jars = 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 42
Is it not complex and time taking to add 6 seven times? Now consider if there were 12 jars, then the shopkeeper has to add 6 twelve times. Hence operation 'multiplication' was introduced.
This repeated addition is called multiplication. Multiplication means 'Adding a number ______ times', in the above case it is 'Adding 6 seven times'.
Another way to express this is 7×6.
'×' is used to denote Multiplication, which means 'times'
So seven times six is 7 × 6 = 42
Numbers that we are multiplying together are called factors and the answer that we get after the multiplication of factors is called the product.
Or, we say, the number to be multiplied is the "multiplicand", and the number by which it is multiplied is the "multiplier".
Now we understand that multiplication saves a lot of time.
One more interesting fact about multiplication is that the order of the factors does not matter. 6 times 7 is equal to 7 times 6 or we can say 6 × 7 = 7 × 6 = 42
We have two ways to find 7 × 6.
Add 6 seven times = 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 +6, or use skip counting by 6, which gives 6,12,18,24,30,36,42.
Using the above method let's determine the product of 2 × 6
Solution: Add 6 two times, or do skip counting by 6 two times, the product is equal to 12.
Using this method, a Multiplication table (chart) is created. We can refer to this chart to know what would be the product of two numbers.
Here from the table, we get 6 × 2 as 12.
Let's take another example - what is 5 × 4, or what is the product of 5 and 4?
This multiplication table / chart should be memorized to quickly solve multiplication problems.
Example: \(0\times 2 = 0\) or \(2\times 0 = 0\)
Example: \(1\times 2 = 2\)
Let’s see some more examples.
Look at the 3 groups of 5 balls each.
Each group has 5 balls. Therefore, 5 + 5 + 5 = 15 or 3 times 5 is 15.
How many legs will 5 cows have?
Each cow has 4 legs. So, 5 cows will have 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 20 legs.
In this example, 4 is repeatedly added 5 times.
Or, \(4\times 5 = 20\)
Now, you must be worried about doing big repeated additions. For that, you can use multiplication tables which are made for two times, three times, four times...up to ten times.
Multiplication is something we use in our real lives all the time. Let’s look at a real-life example of multiplication.
Example 1. If you want to give 3 children 2 strawberries each, how many strawberries will you need altogether?
\(3\times 2 = 6\) strawberries
Example 2. If you want to buy 6 liters of milk, and one litter cost 2 dollars, how much money will you pay?
\(6\times 2 = 12\) dollars
Example 3. You are 3 best friends and have 3 pencils each. How many pencils do you have together?
\(3\times 3 = 9\) pencils
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