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Lesson 39:  Building a Multiplication Table

We saw the basics of a multiplication table back in Lesson 10.  Review that lesson, and then you'll be ready to move on to extending the multiplication table.

Don't forget to watch the embedded video clip for this lesson at the bottom of the page.  Please be sure to read the embedded video information and disclaimer.

A multiplication table can be a helpful tool when multiplying small numbers.  But rather than rely on it, it's important to learn how to multiply numbers on your own. 

More importantly, it's crucial that you be able to list multiplies of a number quickly and easily.  This is the basis of multiplication, and multiples come up again and again in math. 

Below you can see a multiplication table which will allow us to multiply numbers up to 12.  Of course, the table could be extended as far as we'd like, but it would take up lots of room.  The table needs to be memorized.  When you need to multiply small numbers, you shouldn't have to refer to a table or do the calculations on paper.  One way to help you memorize the table is to study multiples of numbers.  When I need to multiply 7 x 5, sometimes I'll just count 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, rather than rely on my memory.  If nothing else, I'll count multiples just to check to see that I remembered the product correctly.   

Don't forget, anything times 0 is 0, since you're calculating 0 groups of something.

× 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36
4 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
6 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72
7 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84
8 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 96
9 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90 99 108
10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
11 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 110 121 132
12 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108 120 132 144

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