When you need to multiply 7*8 do you simply have it memorized, or do you need to add, subtract or otherwise connect it to another math fact that you know better?
That is do you simply think "56" or are there more thoughts that lead to 56?
0 Boosts
0 Likes
@futurebird I don't instantly know what 7*8 is, but I do know what 8*7 is.
The bigger question is: are the hardest ones 6*7, 7*8, and 8*9 just for me, or for most people? And why?
Mostly I have that one memorized. Otherwise, I decompose it into 5*8 + 2*8, which is 40 + 16.
I have dyscalculia; rote learning the tables is the only reason I can come up with the answer instantly.
@futurebird 7*2*2*2 is what I capsulate
@futurebird
7*8 in particular, I have to work out. I'd probably go 70 (7*10) less 14 (7*2, to get to tines 😄 to get to 56.
For many other pairs I have tricks already memorized, shortcuts to look up the right answer.
@futurebird i thought 7x7 =49 + 7.
@futurebird For some reason I developed a HATRED for rote memorization of times tables in school. As long as I understood the concepts of how to multiply, why did I have to memorize so many answers, and calculators already existed and were clearly going to become cheaper and more common, and if I didn't have one I could figure it out in a minute anyways.
@futurebird my classmates and I were forced to learn the multiplication tables in grade school. The answer 56 is straight memorization, no math involved.
@futurebird We were relentlessly drilled on this in 2nd grade (I wear the "privately schooled" badge of shame). I still have some of the worksheets... 👻
@futurebird
When I was a kid learning the multiplication table, it was not easy for me. Probably because I wasn't paying attention. Some facts came easy, though. I don't know why, but 7×8 was one of my favorites. (Yes, I liked some more than others.) Eventually, it all just clicked and it all became easy for me. That must've been the day I finally paid attention.
@futurebird I have a learning disability that was never adequately addressed. I can do arithmetic only with a calculator. I have immense difficulty recalling equation strings I'm supposed to know, and I canNot conceptualize numbers in my head of more than about 5. I have aphantasia and cannot 'see' in my mind, and I actually organize most by a system of spacial relations I find difficult to explain. Oddly, I still passed Calc3 in Uni, due largely to its spacial nature and a graphing TI hehe.
@futurebird
I still remember it as 8*7=56, which is easy because of the way we say numbers above 20 in Dutch.
"Eight times seven is six-and-fifty", 8 7 6 5.
@futurebird
7*8 = 7*2*2*2 = 56.
This is a useful “trick” that allows you to break down many calculations into simpler parts. 
@futurebird
I have a lot of anchor points in the times table memorized and 7*7 and 8*8 are two of them. I use them to get to the close by result quickly