Question

I am ashamed of my inability to do simple math quickly. How do get good with the numborz

Answer 1

Like, I practice stuff and how to do stuff and other stuff but basic addition and subtraction takes me forever while other things come in less than a second to me. I am embarrassed of this and would like any help to git gud

Answer 2

people memorize the "addition table" so it's less thinking and just remembering.

Answer 3

Sometimes schools use physical objects to help understand addition and subtraction. Another way is to use your fingers, if you are talking adding or subtracting below 10. But get someone to practise this with you, because you need eventually to wean yourself of fingers. Basic math is, IMHO, all about practice.
For addition and subtraction above 10, use the lazy borrowing method.

Say you add 23 to 42, add 2 to 4 to get 6, and 3 to 2 to get 5, so the final answer is 65;

The idea of carry and borrowing is for helping to understand, but in practice, we do it mentally in a different way.

Let me know if you want to go into that.

Answer 4

But that doesn't help me. I find it hard to do basic addition subtraction and multiplication and division quickly; while when it's something like, well anything other than 2+2 really, I can do that.

Answer 5

I meant that for phi

Answer 6

I do want to go into that, math.

Answer 7

Practice makes a man perfect
Try to learn vedic maths

Answer 8

very few people are fast at multiplying numbers more than 2 digits. And they are not very fast adding or subtracting either. Especially these days, with calculators, where it's easy to not have to practice. In the old days, you had no choice.

Specifically what problems do you mean ?

Answer 9

Like, I can do a simple 2+2, but say you throw something like, well, any division problem as simple as it may be, and I am dead. I am really more just ashamed of my division because after years of practice I can't get past simple questions. halp ploox

Answer 10

division is hard. But there are some tricks that you can use
I learned "the easy ones" on this list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divisibility_rule

Answer 11

Also, it's helpful to memorize the primes up to say 100
http://primes.utm.edu/lists/small/1000.txt

Answer 12

When there is no carry or borrowing, you can add/subtract digit by digit.
In general, we're better at adding than subtracting, for fear of borrowing.

So to add 19 to 32, we cannot add without carry, but we can do something else.
when we see that there is carry, we think of 19 as 20-1. So add 20 to 32 to get 52, then subtract 1. This reduces to single digit addition subtraction.
Same goes for 35+67, so add 35 to 70 to get 105, and take off the three (from 67+3=70) to get 102.

Answer 13

if you are dividing say 33 into 3000
you could first divide 3 into both: and get 1000/11
then get 90 remainder 10

Answer 14

So, heres where I get real stoopid. What's a prime.

Answer 15

Yup exactly u should actually know the few simple rules of mathematics to get quick at calculations as mentioned by our mates above

Answer 16

The no. Whch is divisible by one and the no itself

Answer 17

most numbers can be divided into factors
for example 6 is 2*3
if you can do that then you know 2 divides into 6 and 2 does also

primes don't factor.

Answer 18

*3 does also

Answer 19

As @phi mentioned, it is rare today that students are asked (seriously) to memorize the multiplication table, thinking that the calculator will do the job.
But you cannot use the calculator to do every one of your chores!
I am in a small village right now, and grade 1 students (6-7 year-olds) are asked to memorize their multiplication table up to 12x12! they can also add/subtract two digit numbers, and even do multiplications like 14*16 in less than 5 seconds, no paper, no pencil, and obviously no calculator. These are the students who will not find math difficult later on in life.!

Answer 20

If you are saying can't do math "quickly"... that's not really a problem...
Do it at ur own pace, nothing wrong with that

Answer 21

so if you see 1000/ 83 you know you are "out of luck" 83 is prime, and we have to divide the hard way

if it were 1000/82 we can divide both by 2: 500/41
41 is prime. so now it's back to the hard way. we get 12 remainder 8

Answer 22

Well baru it's just that I want to get better at this. And I never had a calculator either when I was younger. I was just naturally bad at math x-x. Hell, my parents even hired a professional tutor for me when I was younger and I enjoyed trying to learn, but I was just so bad lmao

Answer 23

Also thanks for all the help from you all.
I wish I could give a medal to all of you ;-;

Answer 24

By the way, did the tutor or your parents ask you to memorize the times table? and to how far, 9x9, 10x10 or 12x12?

Answer 25

12x12

Answer 26

Can you still do 12*8, for example, mentally?

Answer 27

That was around kindergarten-1st grade. then he had to leave and we kinda never heard from him again so my grandpa who was also good at math kept practicing with me till he just gave up because I suck at divison.

Answer 28

And I COULD do that, but it would take me a moment or so

Answer 29

people usually memorize up to 12 * 12
also, it does not hurt to memorize "perfect squares" (so you can take the square root)

or do it by writing the problem as 12 * (10+2 )
which you can do in your head (hopefully!): 120 + 24 = 144

Answer 30

actually phi I've never seen it done that way. I will start doing that from now on because that's actually a lot better :P

Answer 31

I think you are not bad at math. You just have to catch a compatible tutor! If you want to, keep practising and you'd get there. The biggest hurdle is the multiplication table, and the addition table for adding single digits. After that, you will find that it's not so hard!

Answer 32

Well thank you a ton, to both of you of course.

Answer 33

Oh before anyone goes I have another question

Answer 34

Is anyone here good with that ASA SSA SAS stuff
I think it was congruent triangle or something

Answer 35

I have a question rn that I can't do for the life of me, if you want I'll make another post with that question

Answer 36

Ima make another post

Answer 37

Sure, any time, and post again if you have a certain type of problems you find challenging. I love working with mental calculations.
I remember reading about a little girl who went up to the blackboard to do a division by 89, mentally, and kept writing until the digits started repeating (the period is 89). If I find that biography, I'll send it to you. The method actually works, and it's not by pure magic!

Answer 38

:P