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Big numbers get easy
when you break them apart

Upper elementary · About 3 min read

If a two-digit multiplication like 34 × 6 feels hard, split 34 into 30 and 4, calculate each part, then add them together. It gets much easier.

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🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Read this together with a grown-up. Some words may still be tricky to read alone. Reading it out loud together makes it easier to understand.

1A two-digit number can be split apart by place value

34 is really just 30 plus 4 added together. Splitting a number by place value like this lets you turn one big multiplication into two smaller ones.

34 × 6 = (30 × 6) + (4 × 6) = 180 + 24 = 204

30×6 and 4×6 are both multiplications you can do easily with the times table.

2The same trick works for two-digit × two-digit

If the multiplier is also a two-digit number, split that one apart by place value too, multiply each part, then add them together. This is exactly why, in column multiplication, you "multiply one row at a time, then add."

34 × 27 = (34 × 7) + (34 × 20) = 238 + 680 = 918

First multiply by the ones digit of the multiplier, then by the tens digit, and add the two results.

3Division means finding "how many groups"

38 ÷ 7 asks: "If I split 38 items into groups of 7, how many groups do I get, and how many are left over?" Making groups of 7 gives you 5 groups (35 items), with 3 left over.

5 groups of 7 3 left over
Splitting 38 items into groups of 7 makes 5 groups, with 3 left over
38 ÷ 7 = 5 remainder 3

The quotient is 5, and the remainder is 3.

4You can check your answer

Quotient × divisor + remainder = dividend
If 38 ÷ 7 = 5 remainder 3 is correct, then 7 × 5 + 3 = 38 must also be true. Working backward like this lets you check whether your answer is right.

5Try playing like this