Last year you added equal groups: 4 + 4 + 4 = 12. There is a shorter way to write it.
Step 1: Let's Learn
Read it, or press Listen and follow the words.
Three groups of four is written 3 × 4.
Multiplication is a short way of adding equal groups. The symbol is ×.
How to read it
In 3 × 4, the 3 is how many groups and the 4 is how many in each group.
The answer has a name.
Product is the answer to a multiplication.
Multiplication is shorthand, not a new idea
Four groups of 5 can be written 5 + 5 + 5 + 5, or written 4 × 5. Both mean the same thing and both give 20. Multiplication was invented because writing out long strings of the same number is slow and easy to get wrong. Nothing about it is mysterious — it is addition, packaged.
Reading the two numbers correctly
In 4 × 5, the 4 is the number of groups and the 5 is how many are in each group. Read it as "four groups of five". The two numbers play different roles even though they sit side by side, and telling them apart is what lets you match an equation to a picture or a story.
The groups must be equal
Multiplication only applies when every group holds the same number. Three plates with 4, 4 and 4 biscuits is 3 × 4. Three plates with 4, 5 and 3 is not multiplication at all — you have to add. Checking that the groups really are equal is the first thing to do before reaching for a times table.
Step 2: Try It Yourself
Change the rows and read both sentences underneath.
4 + 4 + 4 = 12
3 × 4 = 12
3 rows of 4 makes 12.
Step 3: Watch an Example
One step at a time.
Watch Ana Write a Product
Ana sees 5 plates with 3 buns on each.
- Step 1
She counts the groups: 5 plates.
Step 4: Your Turn
Practice makes it stick.
The Bike Rack
Problem 1 of 2
6 bicycles are parked. Each has 2 wheels. Write this as a multiplication and solve it.
wheels
The Egg Boxes
Problem 2 of 2
4 boxes each hold 6 eggs. How many eggs are there?
eggs
Write It the Short Way
1 of 4
3 groups of 5. What is the product?
2 of 4
2 groups of 8. What is the product?
3 of 4
In 7 × 4, how many groups are there?
4 of 4
In 7 × 4, how many are in each group?
Step 5: Quick Check
Show what you know.
Question 1 of 2
4 groups of 5. What is the product?
Question 2 of 2
What does multiplication do?
What You Learned
- Multiplication is a short way to add equal groups.
- 3 × 4 means 3 groups of 4.
- The answer is called the product.