tips: a simple multiplication method

Are you the type that tries to multiply 60 x 95 the usual way? how do you do it mentally? do you have trouble multiplying it in the mind or do you write it on paper using 2 lines as in

    60 x 95
    300
   540
-----------
=  5700

In a numerical reasoning test, you might think of quicker ways of doing it -- mentally that is!

for e.g. 60 x 95 is close to 60 x 100 = 6000

or 60 x 95 is actually
= 10 x 6 x (90 + 5) 
= 10 x [ 6 x 90 + 6 x 5] 
= 10 x [ 540 + 30] 
= 10 x [570] = 5700

It's often faster to split a 2 digit number to it's 10's and 1's and multiply/add. Let's take  another example, how much is

80 x 545?

a rapid way of thinking about it is

10 x 8 x 545
= 10 x 8 x [500 + 40 + 5]
= 10 x [ 8 x 500 + 8x 40 + 8x5]
= 10 x [4000 + 320 + 40]
= 10 x [4360] = 43600

you might think it's faster to multiply the 'usual way', but quickly you'll begin to see that split-multiply-add method is fast, and can be quite impressive when you're actually doing it aloud during, say, a case interview. 

If you've never tried it out to mentally do the math, try it -- if it works for you, great. If not, don't bother. Of course, the whole methodology works if you're nimble with single-to-2 digit multiplications and additions.