Download BASIC CALCULATION SKILLS What students need to know

BASIC CALCULATION SKILLS
What students need to know:
Students should be confident with the items in the chapter’s ‘Before you start...’ section.
Specifically they should:
• know the meanings of the words sum, quotient, product and difference;
SUM: the aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes, quantities, or particulars as
determined by or as if by the mathematical process of addition: The sum of 6 and 8 is
14.
A particular aggregate or total, especially with reference to money: The expenses came
to an enormous sum.
Quotient:a result obtained by dividing one quantity by another
Product: A product in math is defined as the answer of an equation in which two or more
variables are multiplied. In other terms, a product is the answer to any multiplication
problem. The product of 4 and 5 is 20.
Difference:A difference is the result of a subtraction problem. The difference of 10 and
7 is 3.
• be able to use formal and informal methods and algorithms, both mental and written, for the
four operations of arithmetic;
An Algorithm is a step-by-step solution. It is like a cooking recipe for mathematics.
Example: one algorithm for adding two digit numbers is "add the units, add the tens
and combine the answers" Long Division is another example of an algorithm: when you
follow the steps you get the answer.
• understand the distributive law;
The Distributive Law says that multiplying a number by a group of numbers added together is
the same as doing each multiplication separately. a(b + c) = ab + ac
• know that multiplication and addition are commutative
The "Commutative Laws" say we can swap numbers over and still get the
same answer …
... when we add:a
+b = b+a
Or when we multiply
a×b = b×a