Are you looking for information on grid method multiplication? Multiplication is a skill you’ve been working on since primary school and is probably one of the most important skills you will need on your non-calculator paper. This blog focuses on just the multiplication of positive numbers, including decimals. It does include some addition and subtraction as these regularly come up in the same question.
In this series of blogs, we are going to look at three different methods for multiplication – it’s usually best to stick to the method you know but, if you are struggling, try one of the other methods.
Calculate 72.4 × 8.14
For this method, partition each number into groups to make it easier to multiply. In most cases, that means splitting into hundreds, tens, ones, tenths and so on.
So, 72.4 becomes 70 + 2 + 0.4 and 8.14 becomes 8 + 0.1 + 0.04.
We arrange these numbers round the outside of the grid and multiply each section in one number by each section in the other number:
Finally, we find the sum of the numbers in the grid.
So, 72.4 × 8.14 = 589.336
Tony is buying a new motorbike. He pays a deposit of £1256 and then pays the remainder of the cost in 18 payments of £237 each. Find the total cost of the motorbike.
First, we will find the total amount paid in the 18 payments. To do this, we will calculate 237 × 18.
So, the 18 payments of £237 total £4266. We need to add this to £1256 to find the total amount spent:
So, the total amount Tony spent on the motorbike is £5522.
Did this answer your burning questions on grid method multiplication? If so, you may find luck with our other revision blog posts! You can also subscribe to Beyond for access to thousands of secondary teaching resources. You can sign up for a free account here and take a look around at our free resources before you subscribe too.