🌷 Multiplying: Repeated Addition

Hello! Today we will learn multiplying by counting flowers in the garden. Multiplying is a quick way to add the same number again and again.

There are 4 rows of flowers, with 3 flowers in each row. Let’s add them all up: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12. That is 4 groups of 3. When we add the same number again and again, we can use multiplication: 4 × 3 = 12.

When flowers are set out in equal rows, we call it an array. First count the rows: 3. Then count the flowers in one row: 6. 3 × 6 = 18 flowers.

Let’s give the garden a quarter turn. 4 rows of 3 flowers became 3 rows of 4 flowers. The number of flowers did not change: 4 × 3 = 3 × 4 = 12. In multiplication, the answer stays the same when the numbers swap places.

Careful, a common mistake! 4 × 3 is not 4 + 3. 4 + 3 means adding 3 flowers to 4 flowers: 7. 4 × 3 means 4 groups of 3: 12.

Here is a shortcut for multiplying by 10: every digit becomes worth ten times more, so it moves one place to the left, and a 0 fills the empty ones place. 7 × 10 = 70, 25 × 10 = 250. That is because every one becomes a ten.

Dividing means sharing equally. Let’s deal 14 flowers into 4 baskets, one at a time. Each basket gets 3 flowers. The 2 flowers left over go in the bucket: that is the remainder. 14 ÷ 4 = 3 remainder 2.

The parts of a division: 14 is the dividend, 4 is the divisor, 3 is the quotient and 2 is the remainder. Let’s check: 4 × 3 + 2 = 14. The remainder must always be less than the divisor. If the bucket had 4 flowers, we would give each basket one more.

An easy way to multiply by 9: the finger trick! For 9 × 4, bend your 4th finger. There are 3 fingers on its left: 3 tens. There are 6 fingers on its right: 6 ones. 9 × 4 = 36!

Summary: multiplying is repeated addition. Turning the garden does not change the answer. When you multiply by 10, every digit moves one place to the left. Dividing is sharing equally, and what is left over is the remainder. Now try it in Multiplication Garden!