How do you approach the problem 42×51? I think most of us will grab our crenelated pail and multiply 2x1, 4x1, add a place holder zero, etc. The answer is 2,142. We were taught this method early and probably don’t even consider other ways to solve the problem. There is a tidy simplicity to this method. But (you were expecting me to say that!), what if we were to consider the same problem written a different way?
Our blog software cannot handle mathematical formatting, so please tap here to read the full article from VSA mathematics teacher Andrea McCabe in PDF form.
