Sunday, 19 January 2014

Doubling Numbers

To use 20 and 50 as reference numbers, we need to be able to double and halve numbers easily.
Sometimes, such as when you halve a two-digit number and the tens digit is odd, the calculation is not so easy.

For example:
78 ÷ 2 =

To halve 78, you might halve 70 to get 35, then halve 8 to get 4, and add the answers, but there is an easier method.

Seventy-eight is 80 minus 2. Half of 80 is 40 and half of –2 is –1.

So, half of 78 is 40 minus 1, or 39.

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