How To Check Multiplication

If you've ever taken a quiz or test on multiplication and wondered if your answers were correct, there is a clever way to check yourself for accuracy. This method involves simple mathematical skills, mainly relying on the use of addition. Once you learn the process of checking your answers, you can easily and quickly determine if you answered correctly or if you need to change your answer.

Step 1

Add the digits of the first factors that you multiplied. For example, if you multiplied 506 times 437, add 5, 0 and 6 to get 11. If the number has more than one digit, add the digits until you arrive at a single digit. In this case, you would add 1 and 1 to get 2.

Step 2

Repeat the process from Step 1 for the second factor. In this case, you would add 4, 3 and 7 to get 14. Then you would add the 1 and the 4 to get 5.

Step 3

Multiply your answers from the first two steps and reduce the answer to a single digit by adding the digits together. In this example, you would multiply 2 and 5 to get 10. Since 1 plus zero is 1, this is your final answer for this stage of the process.

Step 4

Add the digits of the product that you originally answered and reduce to a single digit. For example, if you obtained the answer 221,122 from multiplying 506 times 437, then you would add 2, 2, 1, 1, 2 and 2 to get 10. Then add the digits from your result together until you get a single digit, as you did in Step 3. In this case, 1 plus zero equals 1. If your answer is the same as the answer you found in step three, then your multiplication is correct.