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Operations and Calculations - Mental math strategies for addition and subtraction

Grade 5IGCSE

Review the key concepts, formulae, and examples before starting your quiz.

🔑Concepts

Partitioning: Breaking numbers into hundreds, tens, and ones to add or subtract them separately (e.g., 45 + 32 = (40+30) + (5+2)).

Compensation: Rounding one number to the nearest 10 or 100, performing the operation, and then adjusting the result (e.g., adding 19 is like adding 20 and subtracting 1).

Bridging: Moving to the nearest multiple of 10 or 100 as an intermediate step (e.g., 8 + 7 as 8 + 2 + 5).

Counting On: For subtraction, finding the difference by counting up from the smaller number to the larger number.

Doubles and Near Doubles: Using known doubles (like 25 + 25 = 50) to solve nearby problems (like 25 + 26 = 51).

Commutative and Associative Properties: Reordering numbers to make calculations easier (e.g., 17 + 5 + 3 = 17 + 3 + 5).

📐Formulae

a+b=b+aa + b = b + a (Commutative Property)

a+(b+c)=(a+b)+ca + (b + c) = (a + b) + c (Associative Property)

ab=(a+k)(b+k)a - b = (a + k) - (b + k) (Constant Difference Rule for Subtraction)

a+(bk)=(a+b)ka + (b - k) = (a + b) - k (Compensation for Addition)

💡Examples

Problem 1:

Calculate 157+39157 + 39 mentally.

Solution:

196

Explanation:

Use the compensation strategy. Round 39 up to 40. 157+40=197157 + 40 = 197. Since you added 1 too many, subtract 1 from the result: 1971=196197 - 1 = 196.

Problem 2:

Calculate 843684 - 36 using partitioning.

Solution:

48

Explanation:

First, subtract the tens: 8430=5484 - 30 = 54. Then, subtract the remaining units: 54654 - 6. To do 54654 - 6 easily, bridge through 50: 544=5054 - 4 = 50, and 502=4850 - 2 = 48.

Problem 3:

Find the difference between 1003 and 997 mentally.

Solution:

6

Explanation:

Use the 'Counting On' strategy. Start at 997. Add 3 to get to 1000. Add another 3 to get to 1003. Total added is 3+3=63 + 3 = 6.

Problem 4:

Solve 250+175+50250 + 175 + 50.

Solution:

475

Explanation:

Use the associative property to reorder the numbers. Add 250+50250 + 50 first to get 300 (a friendly number). Then add 300+175=475300 + 175 = 475.