Multiplication by 6, step by step
The six times table has two easy routes in, and most children only ever meet the hard one.
The question
8 × 6
8×6
8 × 6=6 × 8
6 × 5=30
6 × 3=18
30+18=48
8×6=48
- 8 × 6 means 8 groups with 6 in each one — 8 rows of 6. The answer counts everything in all of them, not one row.
- Added up, that is 6 written 8 times — nobody wants to do that. Turn it round: 6 × 8 is the same amount, and it is only 6 lots of 8 to add instead.
- If 6 × 8 will not come, split the 8 at five: 6 × 5 = 30, and 6 × 3 = 18. Together that is 30 + 18 = 48.
- So 8 × 6 = 48.
How it works.
- 01
8 × 6 means 8 groups with 6 in each one — 8 rows of 6. The answer counts everything in all of them, not one row.
- 02
Added up, that is 6 written 8 times — nobody wants to do that. Turn it round: 6 × 8 is the same amount, and it is only 6 lots of 8 to add instead.
- 03
If 6 × 8 will not come, split the 8 at five: 6 × 5 = 30, and 6 × 3 = 18. Together that is 30 + 18 = 48.
- 04
So 8 × 6 = 48.