Secrets of Mental Math
Secrets of Mental Math Chapter 0 Quick Tricks: Easy (and Impressive) Calculations In the pages that follow, you will learn to do math in your head faster than you ever thought possible. After practicing the methods in this book for just a little while, your ability to work with numbers will increase dramatically. With even more practice, you will be able to perform many calculations faster than someone using a calculator. But in this chapter, my goal is to teach you some easy yet impressive calculations you can learn to do immediately. We’ll save some of the more serious stuff for later. INSTANT MULTIPLICATION Let’s begin with one of my favorite feats of mental math—how to multiply, in your head, any two-digit number by eleven. It’s very easy once you know the secret. Consider the problem: 32×11 To solve this problem, simply add the digits, 3 + 2 = 5, put the 5 between the 3 and the 2, and there is your answer: 352 What could be easier? Now you t...