Number Sense Tricks

Number Sense Tricks
Bryant Heath
18 October 2007∗
∗ Revised and Edited : 12 April 2018
1
Contents
1 Numerical Tricks 6
1.1 Introduction: FOILing/LIOFing When Multiplying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Multiplying: The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.1 Multiplying by 11 Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.2 Multiplying by 101 Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2.3 Multiplying by 25 Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.2.4 Multiplying by 75 trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.2.5 Multiplying by Any Fraction of 100, 1000, etc... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2.6 Double and Half Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.2.7 Multiplying Two Numbers Near 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.2.8 Squares Ending in 5 Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.2.9 Squares from 41-59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.2.10 Multiplying Two Numbers Equidistant from a Third Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.2.11 Multiplying Reverses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.3 Standard Multiplication Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.3.1 Extending Foiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.3.2 Factoring of Numerical Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.3.3 Sum of Consecutive Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.4 Sum of Squares: Factoring Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.5 Sum of Squares: Special Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.3.6 Difference of Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.3.7 Multiplying Two Numbers Ending in 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.3.8 Multiplying Mixed Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
a
1.3.9 a × Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
b
1.3.10 Combination of Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.4 Dividing Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
1.4.1 Finding a Remainder when Dividing by 4, 8, etc... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.4.2 Finding a Remainder when Dividing by 3, 9, etc... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.4.3 Finding a Remainder when Dividing by 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1.4.4 Finding Remainders of Other Integers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1.4.5 Remainders of Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.4.6 Dividing by 9 Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
a b
1.4.7 Converting 40 and 80 , etc... to Decimals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
1.5 Adding and Subtracting Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1.5.1 Subtracting Reverses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1.5.2 Switching Numbers and Negating on Subtraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
a a
1.5.3 + + ··· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
b · (b + 1) (b + 1) · (b + 2)
a b
1.5.4 + Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
b a
a na − 1
1.5.5 − . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
b nb + 1
2 Memorizations 47
2.1 Important Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.1.1 Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.1.2 Cubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.1.3 Powers of 2, 3, 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.1.4 Important Fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.1.5 Special Integers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.1.6 Roman Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.1.7 Platonic Solids and Euler’s Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.1.8 π and e Approximations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2
2.1.9 Distance and Velocity Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.1.10 Conversion between Distance → Area, Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.1.11 Fluid and Weight Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.1.12 Celsius to Fahrenheit Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.2 Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.2.1 Sum of Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.2.2 Fibonacci Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.2.3 Integral Divisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.2.4 Number of Diagonals of a Polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.2.5 Exterior/Interior Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.2.6 Triangular, Pentagonal, etc... Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.2.7 Finding Sides of a Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.2.8 Equilateral Triangle Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.2.9 Formulas of Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.2.10 Combinations and Permutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2.2.11 Trigonometric Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.2.12 Trigonometric Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
2.2.13 Graphs of Sines/Cosines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
2.2.14 Vertex of a Parabola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
2.2.15 Discriminant and Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3 Miscellaneous Topics 90
3.1 Random Assortment of Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.1.1 GCD and LCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.1.2 Perfect, Abundant, and Deficient Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.1.3 Sum and Product of Coefficients in Binomial Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.1.4 Sum/Product of the Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.1.5 Finding Units Digit of xn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.1.6 Exponent Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.1.7 Log Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.1.8 Square Root Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.1.9 Finding Approximations of Square Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.1.10 Complex Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3.1.11 Function Inverses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.1.12 Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
3.1.13 Probability and Odds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.1.14 Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.2 Changing Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.2.1 Converting Integers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.2.2 Converting Decimals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.2.3 Performing Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.2.4 Changing Between Bases: Special Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
3.2.5 Changing Bases: Sum of Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.2.6 Changing Bases: Miscellaneous Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.3 Repeating Decimals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.3.1 In the form: .aaaaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
3.3.2 In the form: .ababa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
3.3.3 In the form: .abbbb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
3.3.4 In the form: .abcbcbc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
3.4 Modular Arithmetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
3.5 Fun with Factorials! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
3.5.1 1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + · · · + n · n! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
a! ± b!
3.5.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
c!
3.5.3 Wilson’s Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
3
3.6 Basic Calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
3.6.1 Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
3.6.2 Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
3.6.3 Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
3.6.4 Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
4 Tricks Added with 2018 Revision 128

4.1 Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.1.1 Multiplying Three-Digit Number by Two-Digit Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.1.2 Multiplying Three-Digit Number by Three-Digit Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.1.3 Multiplying Two Numbers Whose Units Add to 10 and the Rest is the Same . . . . . 131
4.1.4 Binomial Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
4.1.5 Multiplying by Fraction Close to 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
4.1.6 n2 + n = (n + 1)2 − (n + 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.2 Memorizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.2.1 Conversions, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.2.2 Exotic Definitions of Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.2.3 Square Root of Small Integers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
4.2.4 Approximations Using Phi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
4.2.5 Standard Fibonacci Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
4.3 Properties of Fibonacci Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
4.3.1 Adding Consecutive Terms of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence, Method 1 . . . . . . . . 136
4.3.2 Adding Consecutive Terms of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence, Method 2 . . . . . . . . 137
4.3.3 Adding Odd of Even Terms of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4.3.4 Sum of the Squares of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
4.4 Additional Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
a na − 1
4.4.1 − . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
b nb − 1
4.4.2 Factorizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
4.4.3 Sum of the Reciprocals of Triangular Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.4.4 Geometric and Harmonic Means . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
4.4.5 Distance Between a Point and a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
4.4.6 Distance Between Two Parallel Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.5 Miscellaneous Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.5.1 More on Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.5.2 Repeating Decimals in Reverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.5.3 Repeating Decimals in Other Bases - Convert to Base 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
4.5.4 Repeating Decimals in Other Bases - Keeping Same Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
a b ab
4.5.5 Remainders with , , and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
p p p
4.5.6 Minimal and Maximum Value of Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
5 Solutions 151
4
Introduction
As most who are reading this book already know, the UIL Number Sense exam is an intense 10 minute
test composed of 80 mental math problems which assesses a student’s knowledge of topics ranging from
simple multiplication, geometry, algebraic manipulation, to calculus. Although the exam is grueling (with
7.5 seconds per problem, it is hard to imagine it being easy!), there are various tricks to alleviate some of
the heavy computations associated with the test. The purpose of writing this book is to explore a variety of
these “shortcuts” as well as their applications in order to better prepare students taking the Number Sense
test. In addition, this book is a source of practice material for many different types of problems so that
better proficiency of the more straight-forward questions can be reached, leaving more time for harder and
unique test questions.
This book is divided into three sections: Numerical Tricks, Necessary Memorizations (ranging from con-
versions to formulas), and Miscellaneous Topics. The difficulty of tricks discussed range from some of the
most basic (11’s trick, Subtracting Reverses, etc...) to the more advanced that are on the last column of the
most recent exams. Most of the material is geared towards High School participants, however, after looking
through some recent Middle School exams, a lot of the tricks outlined in this manual are appropriate for that
contest as well (albeit, more simplified computations are used). Although this book will provide, hopefully,
adequate understanding of a wide variety of commonly used shortcuts, it is not a replacement for practicing
and discovering methods that you feel most comfortable with. In order to solidify everything exhibited in this
book, regular group and individual practice sessions are recommended as well as participation in multiple
competitions. For further material, you can find free practice tests for both Middle and High School levels
on my website at the following URLS:
Middle School Exams: http://bryantheath.com/middle-school-number-sense-practice-tests/
High School Exams: http://bryantheath.com/number-sense-practice-tests/
The best way to approach this book is to read through all the instructional material first (and, if you are a
Middle School student, skip certain sections – such as the Calculus stuff – that are not applicable to your
exam) then go back and do the practice problems in each section. The reason why this is needed is because
many sections deal with combinations of problems which are discussed later in the book. Also, all problems
in bold reflect questions taken from the state competition exams. Similarly, to maintain consistent nomen-
clature, all (*) problems are approximation problems where ±5% accuracy is needed.
It should be noted that the tricks exhibited here could very easily not be the fastest method for doing the
problems. I wrote down tricks and procedures that I follow, and because I am only human, there could very
easily be faster, more to-the-point tricks that I haven’t noticed. In fact, as I’ve been gleaning past tests
to find sample problems, I’ve noticed faster methods on how to do problems and I’ve updated the book
accordingly. One of the reasons why Number Sense is so great is that there is usually a variety of methods
which can be used to get to the solution! This is apparent mostly in the practice problems. I tried to choose
problems which reflects the procedures outlined in each section but sometimes you can employ different
methods and come up with an equally fast (or possibly faster!) way of solving the problems.
Finally, I just want to say that although Number Sense might seem like a niche competition with limited value,
there are a variety of real-world applications where being able to calculate quickly or estimate accurately
can benefit you immensely both now and in your future career. One of the most immediate benefit you’ll
see is that your standardized math test scores will probably improve (if you can do the rote calculations
quickly, it leaves more time to really think about the more difficult problems). Even fifteen years past my
last competition, the ability to make good back-of-the-envelope calculations in my head quickly has given
me an edge when it comes to on-the-fly interpretations of data I see regularly in my career. Although you’ll
be competing in Number Sense for just a few years in Middle and High School, the skills you acquire will
last a lifetime.
-Bryant Heath
5
1 Numerical Tricks
1.1 Introduction: FOILing/LIOFing When Multiplying
Multiplication is at the heart of every Number Sense test. Slow multiplication hampers how far you are able
to go on the test as well as making you prone to making more errors. To help beginners learn how to speed
up multiplying, the concept of FOILing, learned in beginning algebra classes, is introduced as well as some
exercises to help in speeding up multiplication. What is nice about the basic multiplication exercises is that
anyone can make up problems, so practice is unbounded.
When multiplying two two-digit numbers ab and cd swiftly, a method of FOILing – or more accurately named
LIOFing (Last-Inner+Outer-First) – is used. To understand this concept better, lets take a look at what we
do when we multiply ab × cd:
ab = 10a + b and cd = 10c + d
(10a + b) × (10c + d) = 100(ac) + 10(ad + bc) + bd
A couple of things can be seen by this:
1. The one’s digit of the answer is simply bd or the Last digits (by Last I mean the least significant digit)
of the two numbers multiplied.
2. The ten’s digit of the answer is (ad + bc) which is the sum of the Inner digits multiplied together plus
the Outer digits multiplied.
3. The hundred’s digit is ac which are the First digits (again, by First I mean the most significant digit)
multiplied with each other.
4. If in each step you get more than a single digit, you carry the extra (most significant digit) to the next
calculation. For example:
Units: 3 × 4 = 12
Tens: 3 × 7 + 2 × 4 + 1 = 30
74 × 23 =
Hundreds: 2 × 7 + 3 = 17
Answer: 1702
Where the bold represents the answer and the italicized represents the carry.
Similarly, you can extend this concept of LIOFing to multiply any n-digit number by m-digit number in a
procedure I call “moving down the line.” Let’s look at an example of a 3-digit multiplied by a 2-digit:
Ones: 3×3=9
Tens: 3 × 9 + 2 × 3 = 33
493 × 23 = Hundreds: 3 × 4 + 2 × 9 + 3 = 33
Thousands: 2 × 4 + 3 = 11
Answers: 11339
As one can see, you just continue multiplying the two-digit number “down the line” of the three-digit number,
writing down what you get for each digit then moving on (always remembering to carry when necessary).
The following are exercises to familiarize you with this process of multiplication:
6
Problem Set 1.1:
95 × 30 = 90 × 78 = 51 × 11 = 83 × 51 =
64 × 53 = 65 × 81 = 92 × 76 = 25 × 46 =
94 × 92 = 27 × 64 = 34 × 27 = 11 × 77 =
44 × 87 = 86 × 63 = 54 × 92 = 83 × 68 =
72 × 65 = 81 × 96 = 57 × 89 = 25 × 98 =
34 × 32 = 88 × 76 = 22 × 11 = 36 × 69 =
35 × 52 = 15 × 88 = 62 × 48 = 56 × 40 =
62 × 78 = 57 × 67 = 28 × 44 = 80 × 71 =
51 × 61 = 81 × 15 = 64 × 14 = 47 × 37 =
79 × 97 = 99 × 87 = 49 × 54 = 29 × 67 =
38 × 98 = 75 × 47 = 77 × 34 = 49 × 94 =
71 × 29 = 85 × 66 = 13 × 65 = 64 × 11 =
62 × 15 = 43 × 65 = 74 × 72 = 49 × 41 =
23 × 70 = 72 × 75 = 53 × 59 = 82 × 91 =
14 × 17 = 67 × 27 = 85 × 25 = 25 × 99 =
137 × 32 = 428 × 74 = 996 × 47 = 654 × 45 =
443 × 39 = 739 × 50 = 247 × 87 = 732 × 66 =
554 × 77 = 324 × 11 = 111 × 54 = 885 × 78 =
34 × 655 = 52 × 532 = 33 × 334 = 45 × 301 =
543 × 543 = 606 × 212 = 657 × 322 = 543 × 230 =
111 × 121 = 422 × 943 = 342 × 542 = 789 × 359 =
239 × 795 = 123 × 543 = 683 × 429 = 222 × 796 =
7
1.2 Multiplying: The Basics
1.2.1 Multiplying by 11 Trick
The simplest multiplication trick is the 11’s trick. It is a mundane version of “moving down the line,” where
you add consecutive digits and record the answer. Here is an example:
Ones: 1×3=3
Tens: 1×2+1×3=5
523 × 11 = Hundreds: 1×5+1×2=7
Thousands: 1×5=5
Answer: 5753
As one can see, the result can be obtained by subsequently adding the digits along the number you’re
multiplying. Be sure to keep track of the carries as well:
Ones: 8
Tens: 9 + 8 = 17
Hundreds: 7 + 9 + 1 = 17
6798 × 11 =
Thousands: 6 + 7 + 1 = 14
Ten Thousands: 6+1 =7
Answer: 74778
The trick can also be extended to 111 or 1111 (and so on). Where as in the 11’s trick you are adding pairs
of digits “down the line,” for 111 you will be adding triples:
Ones: 3
Tens: 4+3=7
Hundreds: 5 + 4 + 3 = 12
6543 × 111 = Thousands: 6 + 5 + 4 + 1 = 16
Ten Thousands: 6 + 5 + 1 = 12
Hun. Thousands: 6+1 =7
Answer: 726273
Another common form of the 11’s trick is used in reverse. For example:
1353 ÷ 11 =
or
11 × x = 1353
Ones Digit of x is equal to the Ones Digit of 1353: 3

Tens Digit of x is equal to: 5 = 3 + xtens 2
Hundreds Digit of x is equal to: 3 = 2 + xhund 1
Answer: 123
Similarly you can perform the same procedure with 111, and so on. Let’s look at an example:
46731 ÷ 111 =
or
111 × x = 46731
Ones Digit of x is equal to the Ones Digit of 46731: 1

Tens Digit of x is equal to: 3 = 1 + xtens 2
Hundreds Digit of x is equal to: 7 = 2 + 1 + xhund 4
Answer: 421
The hardest part of the procedure is knowing when to stop. The easiest way I’ve found is to think about
how many digits the answer should have. For example, with the above expression, we are dividing a 5-digit
number by a roughly 100, leaving an answer which should be 3-digits, so after the third-digit you know you
8
are done.
The following are some more practice problems to familiarize you with the process:
Problem Set 1.2.1.:
1. 11 × 54 = 18. 87 × 111 =
2. 11 × 72 = 19. 286 ÷ 11 =
3. 11 × 38 = 20. 111 × 53 =
4. 462 × 11 = 21. 297 ÷ 11 =
5. 11 × 74 = 22. 2233 ÷ 11 =
6. 66 × 11 = 23. 198 × 11 =
7. 1.1 × 2.3 = 24. 297 ÷ 11 =
8. 52 × 11 = 25. 111 × 41 =
9. 246 × 11 = 26. 111 × 35 =
10. 111 × 456 = 27. 111 × 345 =
11. 198 ÷ 11 = 28. 2003 × 111 =
12. 357 × 11 = 29. 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 =
13. 275 ÷ 11 = 30. 121 × 121 =
14. 321 × 111 = 31. 33 × 1111 =
15. 1.1 × .25 = 32. 22 × 32 =
16. 111 × 44 = 33. 36963 ÷ 111 =
17. 374 ÷ 11 = 34. 20.07 × 1.1 =
9
35. 11% of 22 is: % (dec.) 48. 55 × 33 =
36. 13 × 121 = 49. (*) 32 × 64 × 16 ÷ 48 =
37. 27972 ÷ 111 =

50. 2002 ÷ 11 =
38. 2006 × 11 =
51. 77 × 88 =
39. 114 =
52. (*) 44.4 × 33.3 × 22.2 =
40. 33 × 44 =
53. 11 × 11 × 11 × 11 =
41. 2 × 3 × 11 × 13 =
54. 25553 ÷ 1111 =
42. 121 × 22 =
55. 11 × 13 × 42 =
43. 44 × 55 =
56. 1111 × 123 =

44. 2 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 =
57. 11 × 7 × 5 × 3 × 2 =
45. 2553 ÷ 111 =
46. 114 × 121 = 58. 121 × 124 =
47. 44 × 25 × 11 = 59. (*) 33 × 44 × 55 =

In the same spirit as the multiplying by 11’s trick, multiplying by 101 involves adding gap connected digits.
Let’s look at an example:
Ones: 1×8 8
Tens: 1×3 3
Hundreds: 1×4+1×8 12
438 × 101 =
Thousands: 1×3+1 4
Tens Thousands: 1×4 4
Answer: 44238
So you see, immediately you can write down the ones/tens digits (they are the same as what you are
multiplying 101 with). Then you sum gap digits and move down the line. Let’s look at another example:
Ones/Tens: 34 34
Hundreds: 2+4 6
Thousands: 8+3 11
8234 × 101 =
Tens Thousands: 2+1 3
Hundred Thousands: 8 8
Answer: 831634
10
Problem Set 1.2.2
1. 1234 × 101 = 6. 202 × 123 =
2. 10.1 × 234 = 7. If 6 balls cost $6.06, then 15 balls cost: $
3. 369 × 101 = 8. 404 × 1111 =
4. 34845 ÷ 101 = 9. (*) (48 + 53) × 151 =
5
5. 22422 ÷ 101 = 10. (*) 8888 × 62.5% × 11 =

100
The trick to multiplying by 25 is to think of it as . So the strategy is to take what ever you are multiplying
4
with, divide it by 4 then move the decimal over to the right two places. Here are a couple of examples:
84
84 × 25 = × 100 = 21 × 100 = 2100
4
166
166 × 25 = × 100 = 41.5 × 100 = 4150
4
In a similar manner, you can use the same principle to divide numbers by 25 easily. The difference is you
multiply by 4 and then move the decimal over to the left two places
415 415 415 × 4 1660
= = = = 16.6
25 100 100 100
4
Problem Set 1.2.3
1. 240 × 25 = 7. 25 × 147 =
2. 25 × 432 = 8. 418 × 25 =
3. 2.6 × 2.5 = 9. 616 ÷ 25 =
4. 148 × 25 = 10. 2.5 × 40.4 =
5. 25 × 33 = 11. 1.1 ÷ 2.5 =
6. 64 ÷ 25 = 12. 3232 × 25 =
11
13. (*) 97531 ÷ 246 = 23. 2006 ÷ 25 =
6
14. Which is smaller: or .25? 24. 25 × 307 =
25
15. 209 × 25 = 1
25. 32 is 2 % of:
2
16. (18 + 16)(9 + 16) =
26. (*) 47985 ÷ 246 =
17. (*) 334455 ÷ 251 =
27. 25 × 2003 =
18. 21.4 is % of 25.
28. 15 × 25 × 11 =
19. 404 ÷ 25 =
29. 11 × 24 × 25 =
20. 303 × 25 =
21. (*) 97531 ÷ 246 = 30. 11 × 18 × 25 =
7
22. Which is larger: or .25? 31. (*) 248 × 250 × 252 =
25
1.2.4 Multiplying by 75 trick

3
In a similar fashion, you can multiply by 75 by treating it as · 100. So when you multiply by 75, first divide
4
the number you’re multiplying by 4 then multiply by 3 then move the decimal over two places to the right.
76 · 3
76 × 75 = · 100 = 19 × 3 × 100 = 5700
4
42 · 3
42 × 75 = · 100 = 10.5 × 3 × 100 = 3150
4
4
Again, you can use the same principle to divide by 75 as well, only you multiply by then divide by 100
3
(or move the decimal place over two digits to the left).
81 81 81 · 4 27 · 4
= = = = 1.08
75 3 · 100 3 · 100 100
4
Problem Set 1.2.4
1. 48 × 75 =
4. 84 × 75 =
2. 64 × 75 =
5. (*) 443322 ÷ 751 =

3. 66 ÷ 75 =
12
6. 28 × 75 = 11. 96 ÷ 75 =
7. 75 × 24 = 12. 75 × 11 × 24 =
8. (*) 7532 × 1468 13. 4800 ÷ 75 =
9. 48 ÷ 75 = 14. 75 × 48 × 15 =
10. (*) 566472 ÷ 748 = 15. 8.8 × 7.5 × 1.1 =
1.2.5 Multiplying by Any Fraction of 100, 1000, etc...

You can take what we learned from the 25’s and 75’s trick (converting them to fractions of 100) with a
1
variety of potential fractions. ’s are chosen often because:
8
1 3 5
125 = · 1000 37.5 = · 100 6.25 = · 10
8 8 8
1 1 1 1
In addition, you see ’s, ’s, ’s, and sometimes even ’s for approximation problems (because they do
6 3 9 12
not go evenly into 100, 1000, etc..., they have to be approximated usually).
2 5 1 1
223 ≈ · 1000 8333.3 ≈ · 10000 ≈ · 100000 327 ≈ · 1000
9 6 12 3
For approximations you will rarely ever see them equate to almost exactly to the correct fraction. For
2
example you might use · 1000 for any value from 654 − 678. Usually you can tell for the approximation
3
problems what fraction the test writer is really going for.
Problem Set 1.2.5
1. 125 × 320 = 8. (*) 774447 ÷ 111 =
2. (*) 8333 × 24 = 9. (*) 62.5 × 3248 =
3. 138 ÷ 125 = 10. 12.5 × 480 =
4. (*) 57381 ÷ 128 = 11. (*) 17304 ÷ 118 =
5. (*) 245632 ÷ 111 = 12. (*) 87% of 5590 =
6. (*) 16667 ÷ 8333 × 555 = 13. (*) 457689 ÷ 111 =
7. 625 × 320 = 14. (*) 625 × 648 =
13
15. 375 × 408 = 36. (*) 123% of 882 =
16. (*) 359954 ÷ 1111 = 37. (*) 95634 ÷ 278 =
17. 88 × 12.5 × .11 = 38. (*) 273849 ÷ 165 =
18. (*) 719 × 875 = 39. (*) 5714.28 × 85 =
19. (*) 428571 × 22 = 40. (*) 9.08% of 443322 =
20. (*) 85714.2 ÷ 714.285 = 41. (*) 8333 × 23 =
21. 488 × 375 = 42. .125 × 482 =
22. (*) 6311 × 1241 = 43. (*) 714285 × .875 =
23. (*) 884422 ÷ 666 = 44. (*) 87% of 789 =
24. (*) 106.25% of 640 = 45. (*) 16667 × 49 =
25. (*) 6388 × 3.75 = 46. (*) 123456 ÷ 111 =
26. 240 × 875 = 47. (*) 875421 ÷ 369 =
27. (*) 12.75 × 28300 ÷ 102 = 48. (*) 71984 × 1.371 =
28. 375 × 24.8 = 49. (*) 63% of 7191 =
29. (*) 857142 × 427 = 50. (*) 5714.28 × 83 =
30. .0625 × .32 = 51. (*) 1428.57 × 62 =
31. (*) 16667 × 369 = 52. (*) 80520 ÷ 131 =
32. (*) 918576 ÷ 432 = 53. (*) 142.857 × 428.571 =
33. (*) 456789 ÷ 123 = 54. (*) 12509 × 635 =
34. (*) 106% of 319 = 55. (*) 1234 × 567 =
35. (*) 571428 × .875 = 56. (*) 789123 ÷ 456 =
14
57. 625 × 65 = 71. (*) 416666 ÷ 555 × 76 =
58. (*) 1428.57 × 73 = 72. (*) 375 ÷ 833 × 555 =
1
59. (*) 7142.85 × 34.2 = 73. (*) 438 ÷ 9 11 % × 11.1 =
60. (*) 333 × 808 × 444 = 74. (*) 857142 ÷ 428571 × 7777 =
5
61. (*) 571428 × 34 = 75. (*) 546 ÷ 45 11 % × 10.8 =
62. (*) 833 × 612 = 76. (*) 54.5454 × 66.6 × 58 =
1
63. (*) 8333 × (481 + 358) 77. (*) 456 ÷ 18.75% × 4
64. (*) 234678 ÷ 9111 = 78. (*) 818 ÷ 44 94 % × 12.5 =
65. (*) 428.571 × 87.5 = 79. (*) 62.5 ÷ 83.3 × 888 =
7
66. (*) 375.1 × 83.33 × 1.595 = 80. (*) 797 ÷ 87.5% × 10
7
67. (*) 8333 ÷ 6666 × 4444 = 81. (*) 888 × 87.5% ÷ 11
68. (*) 8333 × 12 12 % × .12 = 82. (*) 1250 ÷ 1666 × 4444 =
69. (*) 639 × 375 ÷ 28 = 83. (*) 85858 ÷ 585 =
70. (*) 6250 ÷ 8333 × 8888 = 84. (*) (51597 ÷ 147)2 =
1.2.6 Double and Half Trick

This trick involves multiplying by a clever version of 1. Let’s look at an example:
2
15 × 78 = × 15 × 78
2
78
= (15 × 2) ×
2
= 30 × 39 = 1170
So the procedure is you double one of the numbers and half the other one, then multiply. This trick is
exceptionally helpful when multiplying by 15 or any two-digit number ending in 5. Another example is:
35 × 42 = 70 × 21 = 1470
It is also good whenever you are multiplying an even number in the teens by another number:
18 × 52 = 9 × 104 = 936
15
or
14 × 37 = 7 × 74 = 518
The purpose of this trick is to save time on calculations. It is a lot easier to multiply a single-digit number
than a two-digit number.
Problem Set 1.2.6
1. 1.5 × 5.2 = 10. 18 × 112 =
2. 4.8 × 15 =
11. 27 × 14 =
3. 64 × 1.5 =
12. 21 × 15 × 14 =
4. 15 × 48 =
13. 33.75 = 1.5×
5. 14 × 203 =
14. 345 × 12 =
6. 14 × 312 =
7. 24 × 35 = 15. 1.2 × 1.25 =
8. 312 × 14 =
16. 24% of 44 =
9. A rectangle has a length of 2.4

and a width of 1.5. Its area is 17. 14 × 25 + 12.5 × 28 =
1.2.7 Multiplying Two Numbers Near 100

Let’s look at two numbers over 100 first.
Express n1 = (100 + a) and n2 = (100 + b) then:
n1 · n2 = (100 + a) · (100 + b)
= 10000 + 100(a + b) + ab
= 100(100 + a + b) + ab
= 100(n1 + b) + ab = 100(n2 + a) + ab
1. The Tens/Ones digits are just the difference the two numbers are above 100 multiplied together (ab)
2. The remainder of the answer is just n1 plus the amount n2 is above 100, or n2 plus the amount n1 is
above 100.
Tens/Units: 8×3 24
103 × 108 = Rest of Answer: 103 + 8 or 108 + 3 111
Answer: 11124
Now let’s look at two numbers below 100.
16
n1 = (100 − a) and n2 = (100 − b) so:
n1 · n2 = (100 − a) · (100 − b)
= 10000 − 100(a + b) + ab
= 100(100 − a − b) + ab
= 100(n1 − b) + ab = 100(n2 − a) + ab
1. Again, Tens/Ones digits are just the difference the two numbers are above 100 multiplied together (ab)
2. The remainder of the answer is just n1 minus the difference n2 is from 100, or n2 minus the difference
n1 is from 100.
Tens/Ones: (100 − 97) × (100 − 94) = 3 × 6 18
97 × 94 = Rest of Answer: 97 − 6 or 94 − 3 91
Answer: 9118
Now to multiply two numbers, one above and one below is a little bit more tricky.
Let n1 = (100 + a) which is the number above 100 and n2 = (100 − b) which is the number below 100, then:
n1 · n2 = (100 + a) · (100 − b)
= 10000 + 100(a − b) + ab
= 100(100 + a − b) − ab
= 100(100 + a − b − 1) + (100 − ab)
= 100(n1 − b − 1) + (100 − ab)
To see what this means, it is best to use an example:
Tens/Ones: 100 − 3 × 6 82
103 × 94 = Rest of Answer: 103 − 6 − 1 96
Answer: 9682
So the trick is:
1. The Tens/Ones is just the difference the two numbers are from 100 multiplied together then subtracted
from 100.
2. The rest of the answer is just the number that is larger than 100 minus the difference the smaller
number is from 100 minus an additional 1
Let’s look at another example to solidify this:
Tens/Ones: 100 − 8 × 7 44
108 × 93 = Rest of Answer: 108 − 7 − 1 100
Answer: 10044
It should be noted that you can extend this trick to not just integers around 100 but 1000, 10000, and so
forth. For the extension, you just need to keep track how many digits each part is. For example, when we
are multiplying two numbers over 100 (say 104 × 103) the first two digits would be 4 × 3 = 12, however if
we were doing two numbers over 1000 (like 1002 × 1007) the first three digits would be 2 × 7 = 014 not 14
like what you would be used to putting. Let’s look at the example presented above and the procedure:
Hundreds/Tens/Ones: 2×7 014
1002 × 1007 = Rest of Answer: 1002 + 7 = 1007 + 2 1009
Answer: 1009014
The best way to remember to include the “extra” digit is to think that when you multiply 1002 × 1007 you
are going to expect a seven digit number. Now adding 1002 + 7 = 1009 gives you four of the digits, so you
need the first part to produce three digits for you.
Let’s look at an example of two numbers below 1000:
17
Hundreds/Tens/Ones: 7×6 042
993 × 994 = Rest of Answer: 993 − 6 = 994 − 7 987
Answer: 987042
The following are some practice problems so that you can fully understand this trick:
Problem Set 1.2.7
1. 89 × 97 = 17. 94 × 91 =
2. 96 × 97 = 18. 91 × 98 =
3. 103 × 109 = 19. 993 × 994 =
4. 93 × 97 =
20. 103 × 96 =
5. 103 × 107 =
21. 93 × 103 =
6. 93 × 89 =
22. 991 × 989 =
7. 102 × 108 =
23. 1009 × 1004 =
8. 109 × 107 =
24. 97 × 107 =
9. 96 × 89 =
25. 93 × 104 =
10. 92 × 97 =
26. 96 × 103 =
11. 103 × 104 =
27. 991 × 991 =

12. 102 × 103 =
28. 104 × 97 =
13. 92 × 93 =
14. 106 × 107 = 29. 1003 × 1008 =
15. 97 × 89 = 30. (*) 982 + 972 =
16. 94 × 98 = 31. 192 × 32 × 22 =
18
1.2.8 Squares Ending in 5 Trick
Here is the derivation for this trick. Let a5 represent any number ending in 5 (a could be any integer, not
just restricted to a one-digit number).
(a5)2 = (10a + 5)2

= 100a2 + 100a + 25
= 100a(a + 1) + 25
So you can tell from this that and number ending in 5 squared will have its last two digits equal to 25 and
the remainder of the digits can be found from taking the leading digit(s) and multiplying it by one greater
than itself. Here are a couple of examples:
Tens/Ones: 25
852 = Thousand/Hundreds: 8 × (8 + 1) 72
Answer: 7225
The next example shows how to compute 154 by applying the square ending in 5 trick twice, one time to get
what 152 is then the other to get that result squared.
Tens/Ones: 25 Tens/Ones: 25
152 = Thousands/Hundreds: 1 × (1 + 1) = 2 2252 = Rest of Answer: 22 × (23) = 11 × 46 = 506
Answer: 225 Answer: 50625
In the above trick you also use the double/half trick and the 11’s trick. This just shows that for some
problems using multiple tricks might be necessary.
Problem Set 1.2.8
1. 25% of 25 = 6. 45% of 45 − 45 =
2. .35 × 3.5 =
7. (*) 124 =
3. 122 + 2 × 12 × 13 + 132 =
8. 505 × 505 =
2
4. (115) =
9. A square has an area of
5. f (x) = 9x2 − 12x + 4, f (19) = 12.25 sq. cm. It’s perimeter is:
1.2.9 Squares from 41-59

There is a quick trick for easy computation for squares from 41 − 59. Let k be a 1-digit integer, then any of
those squares can be expressed as (50 ± k):
(50 ± k)2 = 2500 ± 100 · k + k 2

= 100(25 ± k) + k 2
What this means is that:

1. The tens/ones digits is just the difference the number is from 50, squared (k 2 ).
2. The remainder of the answer is taken by adding (if the number is greater than 50) or subtracting (if
the number is less than 50) that difference from 25.
19
3. Note: You could extend this concept to squares outside the range of 41 − 59 as long as you keep up
with the carry appropriately.
Let’s illustrate with a couple of examples:
Tens/Ones: (50 − 46)2 = 42 16
2
46 = Rest of Answer: 25 − 4 21
Answer: 2116
Tens/Ones: (57 − 50)2 = 72 49

572 = Rest of Answer: 25 + 7 32
Answer: 3249
Tens/Ones: (61 − 50)2 = 112 1 21

2
61 = Rest of Answer: 25 + 11 + 1 37
Answer: 3721
Problem Set 1.2.9
1. 582 = 5. (*) 48 × 49 × 50 =
2. (510)2 = 6. 562 =
3. 47 × 47 = 7. 59 × 59 =
4. 532 = 8. 412 =
1.2.10 Multiplying Two Numbers Equidistant from a Third Number

To illustrate this concept, let’s look at an example of this type of problem: 83 × 87.
Notice that both 83 and 87 are 2 away from 85. So:
83 × 87 = (85 − 2) × (85 + 2)
Which notice this is just the difference of two squares:
(85 − 2) × (85 + 2) = 852 − 22 = 7225 − 4 = 7221

So the procedure is:
1. Find the middle number between the two numbers being multiplied and square it.
2. Subtract from that the difference between the middle number and one of two numbers squared.
For most of these types of problems, the center number will be a multiple of 5, making the computation of
its square relatively simple (See Section 1.2.7, Square’s Ending in 5 Trick). The following illustrates another
example:
61 × 69 = 652 − 42 = 4225 − 16 = 4209
Problem Set 1.2.10:
20
1. 84 × 86 = 22. 38 × 28 =
2. 53 × 57 = 23. 41 × 49 − 9 =
3. 48 × 52 = 24. 77 × 73 + 4 =
4. 62 × 58 = 25. 65 × 75 − 33 =
5. 6.8 × 7.2 = 26. 33 × 27 + 9 =
6. 88 × 82 = 27. 71 × 79 + 16 =
7. 36 × 24 = 28. 72 × 78 + 9 =
8. 7.6 × 8.4 = 29. 53 × 57 + 4 =
9. 5.3 × 4.7 = 30. 105 × 95 =
10. 51 × 59 + 16 = 31. 62 × 68 − 16 =
11. 96 × 104 = 32. 36 × 26 =
12. 81 × 89 + 16 = 33. 83 × 87 − 21 =
13. 34 × 36 + 1 = 34. 23 × 27 + 4 =
14. 73 × 77 + 4 = 35. 29 × 37 =
15. 62 × 68 + 9 = 36. 21 − 83 × 87 =
16. 32 × 38 + 9 = 37. 112 × 88 =
17. 18 × 24 + 9 = 38. (*) 52 × 48 + 49 × 51 =
18. 61 × 69 + 16 = 39. (*) 4.93 × 3.33 =
19. 43 × 47 + 4 = 40. (*) 72 × 68 + 71 × 69 =
20. 88 × 82 + 9 = 41. (*) 42 × 38 + 41 × 39 =
21. 57 × 53 + 4 = 42. (*) 4.83 × 6.33 =
21
43. (*) 4000 + 322 × 318 = 45. (*) 5.13 × 7.93 =
44. 118 × 122 + 4 = 46. (*) 34 × 36 × 34 × 36 =
1.2.11 Multiplying Reverses

The following trick involves multiplying two, two-digit numbers whose digits are reverse of each other.
ab × ba = (10a + b) · (10b + a)
= 100(a · b) + 10(a2 + b2 ) + a · b
Here is what we know from the above result:

1. The Ones digit of the answer is just the two digits multiplied together.
2. The Tens digit of the answer is the sum of the squares of the digits.
3. The Hundreds digit of the answer is the two digits multiplied together.
Ones: 3×5 15
Tens: 3 2 + 52 + 1 35
53 × 35 =
Hundreds: 3×5+3 18
Answer: 1855
Here are some more problems to practice this trick:
Problem Set 1.2.11
1. 43 × 34 = 7. 15 × 51 =
2. 23 × 32 = 8. 14 × 41 =
3. 31 × 13 = 9. 18 × 81 =
4. 21 × 12 = 10. 36 × 63 =
5. 27 × 72 = 11. 42 × 24 =
6. 61 × 16 = 12. 26 × 62 =
1.3 Standard Multiplication Tricks

1.3.1 Extending Foiling
You can extend the method of FOILing to quickly multiply two three-digit numbers in the form cba × dba.
The general objective is you treat the digits of ba as one number, so after foiling you would get:
22
Ones/Tens: (ba)2
cba × dba = Hundreds/Thousands: (c + d) × (ba)
Rest of Answer: c×d
Let’s look at a problem to practice this extension:
Ones/Tens: (12)2 1 44
Hundreds/Thousands: (4 + 6) × (12) + 1 1 21
412 × 612 =
Rest of Answer: 4×6+1 25
Answer: 252144
By treating the last two digits as a single entity, you reduce the three-digit multiplication to a two-digit
problem. The last two digits need not be the same in the two numbers (usually I do see this as the case
though) in order to apply this method, let’s look at an example of this:
Ones/Tens: 08 × 11 88
Hundreds/Thousands: 08 × 2 + 11 × 8 1 04
211 × 808 =
Answer: 170488
The method works the best when the last two digits don’t exceed 20 (after that the multiplication become
cumbersome). Another good area where this approach is great for is squaring three-digit numbers:
Ones/Tens: 06 × 06 36
Hundreds/Thousands: 06 × 6 + 6 × 06 = 2 × 6 × 6 72
6062 = 606 × 606
Rest of Answer: 6×6 36
Answer: 367236
In order to use this procedure for squaring, it would be beneficial to have squares of two-digit numbers
memorized. Take for example this problem:
Ones/Tens: 31 × 31 9 61
2 Hundreds/Thousands: 31 × 4 + 4 × 31 + 9 = 2 × 4 × 31 + 9 2 57
431 = 431 × 431
Answer: 185761
If you didn’t have 312 memorized, you would have to calculate it in order to do the first step in the process
(very time consuming). However, if you have it memorized you would not have to do the extra steps, thus
saving time.
Here are some practice problems to help with understanding FOILing three-digit numbers.
Problem Set 1.3.1
1. 2022 =
6. 3062 =
2. 406 × 406 =
7. 509 × 509 =
3. 503 × 503 =
8. 8042 =
2
4. 607 =
9. 704 × 704 =
5. 2082 =
23
10. 4082 = 27. 203 × 123 =
11. 602 × 602 = 28. 121 × 411 =
12. 3032 = 29. 412 × 112 =
13. 9092 =
30. 505 × 404 =
14. 4022 =
31. 311 × 113 =
15. 7072 =
32. 124 × 121 =
16. 301 × 113 =

33. 9182 =
17. 803 × 803 =
34. 124 × 312 =
2
18. 404 =
35. 311 × 122 =
19. 5122 =
36. 5242 =
20. 122 × 311 =
37. 133 × 311 =

21. 6122 =
38. 141 × 141 =

22. 321 × 302 =
39. 511 × 212 =

23. 7142 =
24. 234 × 211 = 40. 122 × 212 =
25. 112 × 211 = 41. (12012)(12012) =
26. 214 × 314 = 42. 6672 =
1.3.2 Factoring of Numerical Problems

In many of the intermediate problems, there are several examples where factoring can make the problem
a lot easier. Outlined in the next couple of tricks are times when factoring would be beneficial towards
calculation. We’ll start off with some standard problems:
212 + 632 = 212 + (3 · 21)2

= 212 · (1 + 9)
= 4410
24
This is a standard trick of factoring that is common in the middle section of the test. Another factoring
procedure is as followed:
48 × 11 + 44 × 12 = 11 · (48 + 4 × 12)
= 11 · (96)
= 1056
Factoring problems can be easily identified because, at first glance, they look like they require dense compu-
tation. For example, the above problem would require two, two-digit multiplication and then their addition.
Whereas when you factor out the 11 you are left with a simple addition and a multiplication using the 11’s
trick.
Another thing is that factoring usually requires the knowledge of another trick. For instance, the first prob-
lem required the knowledge of a square (212 ) while the second example involved applying the 11’s trick.
The following are examples when factoring would lessen the amount of computations:
Problem Set 1.3.2
1. 82 + 242 = 14. 40 × 12 + 20 × 24 =
2. 272 + 92 = 15. 512 + 51 × 49 =
3. 15 × 12 + 9 × 30 = 16. 30 × 11 + 22 × 15 =
4. 28 × 6 − 12 × 14 = 17. 212 + 72 =
5. 332 + 112 = 18. 2006 − 2006 × 6 =
6. 48 × 22 − 22 × 78 = 19. 12 × 16 + 8 × 24 =
7. 3.92 + 1.32 = 20. 1.22 + 3.62 =
8. 2004 + 2004 × 4 = 21. 14 × 44 − 14 × 30 =
9. 32 × 16 + 16 × 48 = 22. 60 × 32 − 32 × 28 =
10. 192 + 19 = 23. 45 × 22 − 44 × 15 =
11. 2005 × 5 + 2005 = 24. (20 × 44) − (18 × 22) =
12. 27 × 33 − 11 × 81 = 25. 492 + 49 =
13. 21 × 38 − 17 × 21 = 26. 292 + 29 =
25
27. 16 × 66 − 16 × 50 = 49. 24 × 13 + 24 × 11 =
28. 592 + 59 = 50. 129 × 129 + 129 =
29. 14 × 38 − 14 × 52 = 51. 13 × 15 + 11 × 65 =
30. 41 × 17 − 17 × 24 = 52. (*) 33 × 31 + 31 × 29 =
31. 17 × 34 − 51 × 17 = 53. 31 × 44 + 44 × 44 =
32. 15 × 36 + 12 × 45 = 54. 122 + 242 =
33. 692 + 69 = 55. (*) 73 × 86 + 77 × 84 =
34. 13 × 77 + 91 × 11 = 56. (*) 63 × 119 + 121 × 17 =
35. 113 − 112 = 57. 48 × 11 + 44 × 12 =
36. 12 × 90 + 72 × 15 = 58. 1092 + 109 =
37. 792 + 79 = 59. (*) 38 × 107 + 47 × 93 =
38. 54 × 11 + 99 × 6 = 60. 64 × 21 − 42 × 16 =
39. 10 · 11 + 11 · 11 + 12 · 11 = 61. (*) 23 × 34 + 43 × 32 =
40. 1192 + 119 = 62. 72 × 11 + 99 × 8 =
41. 392 + 39 = 63. (*) 43 × 56 + 47 × 54 =
42. 18 × 36 − 18 × 54 = 64. 15 × 75 + 45 × 25 =
43. 22 × 75 + 110 × 15 = 65. 42 × 48 + 63 × 42 =
44. 99 × 99 + 99 = 66. 142 − 282 =
45. 45 × 16 − 24 × 30 = 67. (*) 31 × 117 + 30 × 213 =
46. 112 − 113 = 68. 48 × 28 + 27 × 28 =
47. 25 × 77 + 25 × 34 = 69. 34 × 56 + 55 × 34 =
48. 15 × 18 + 9 × 30 = 70. (*) 34 × 45 + 54 × 43 =
26
1.3.3 Sum of Consecutive Squares
Usually when approached with this problem, one of the squares ends in 5 making the squaring of the number
relatively trivial. You want to use the approach of factoring to help aid in these problems. For example:
352 + 362 = 352 + (35 + 1)2 = 2 · 352 + 2 · 35 + 12 = 2 · 1225 + 70 + 1 = 2521
This is a brute force technique, however, it is a lot better than squaring both of the numbers and then adding
them together (which you can get lost very easily doing that).
Here are some more practice problems to familiarize yourself with this procedure.
Problem Set 1.3.3
1. 352 + 362 = 4. 252 + 262 =
2. 122 + 132 = 5. 402 + 412 =
3. 152 + 162 = 6. 802 + 812 =
1.3.4 Sum of Squares: Factoring Method

Usually on the 3rd of 4th column of the test you will have to compute something like: (302 − 22 ) + (30 + 2)2
(with the subtracting and additions might be reversed). Instead of memorizing a whole bunch of formulas
for each individual case, it is probably just best to view these as factoring problems and using the techniques
of FOILing to aid you. So for our example:
(302 − 22 ) + (30 + 2)2 = 2 · 302 + 2 · 30 · 2 + 22 − 22 = 1800 + 120 = 1920
Usually the number needing to be squared is relatively simple (either ending in 0 or ending in 5), making
the computations a lot easier. Other times, another required step of converting a number to something more
manageable will be necessary. For example:
192 + (102 − 92 ) = (10 + 9)2 + (102 − 92 ) = 2 · 102 + 2 · 10 · 9 + 92 − 92 = 200 + 180 = 380
or, if you have your squares memorized and noticed you also have a difference of squares (Section 1.3.6):
192 + (102 − 92 ) = 361 + (10 − 9) · (10 + 9) = 361 + 19 = 380
The following are some more problems to give you practice with this technique:
Problem Set 1.3.4
1. (11 + 10)2 + (112 − 102 ) = 4. (30 + 2)2 − (302 − 22 ) =
2. (30 + 2)2 + (302 − 22 ) = 5. 242 − (202 + 42 ) =
3. (10 + 9)2 + (102 − 92 ) = 6. 312 − (292 − 22 ) =
27
7. (302 − 22 ) + (30 + 2)2 = 15. 322 − (302 − 22 ) =
8. 812 + (80 + 1)(80 − 1) = 16. (28 + 2)2 + (282 − 22 ) =
9. 552 − (502 − 52 ) = 17. 222 + 202 − 22 =
10. 472 + 402 − 72 = 18. 452 − (402 − 52 ) =
11. (55 + 3)2 + 552 − 32 = 19. 552 − 502 + 52 =
12. 302 − (282 − 22 ) = 20. (30 + 2)2 − (302 − 22 ) =
13. 382 + (30 + 8)(30 − 8) = 21. 53 × 53 + 50 × 50 − 3 × 3 =
14. 422 + (402 − 22 ) = 22. 462 − (212 − 252 ) =
1.3.5 Sum of Squares: Special Case

There is a special case of the sum of squares that have repeatedly been tested. In order to apply the trick,
these conditions must be met:
1. Arrange the two numbers so that the unit’s digit of the first number is one greater than the ten’s digit
of the second number.
2. Makes sure the sum of the ten’s digit of the first number and the one’s digit of the second number add
up to ten.
3. If the above conditions are met, the answer is the sum of the squares of the digits of the first number
times 101.
Let’s look at an example: 722 + 132 .
1. The unit’s digit of the first number (2) is one greater than the ten’s digit of the second number (1).
2. The sum of the ten’s digit of the first number (7) and the unit’s digit of the second number (3) is 10.
3. The answer will be (72 + 22 ) × 101 = 5353.
It is important to arrange the numbers accordingly for this particular trick to work. For example, if you see
a problem like: 342 + 642 , it looks like a difficult problem where this particular trick won’t apply. However,
if you switch the order of the two numbers you get 342 + 642 = 642 + 342 = (62 + 42 ) × 101 = 5252.
Generally this trick is on the third column, and it is relatively simple to notice when to apply it because if
you were having to square the two numbers and add them together it would take a long time. That should
tip you off immediately that there is trick that you should apply!
The following are some practice problems:
Problem Set 1.3.5
28
1. 932 + 212 = 5. 452 + 462 =
2. 122 + 192 = 6. 362 + 572 =
3. 722 + 132 = 7. 552 + 562 =
4. 822 + 122 = 8. 372 + 672 =
1.3.6 Difference of Squares

Everybody should know that x2 − y 2 = (x − y)(x + y). You can easily apply this trick when asked to find
the difference between squares of numbers. For example:
542 − 552 = (54 − 55)(54 + 55) = −109
This is a pretty basic trick and is easily recognizable on the test.
The following are some more practice to give you a better feel of the problems:
Problems Set 1.3.6
1. 732 − 722 = 12. 542 − 532 =
2. 362 − 342 = 13. 422 − 442 =
14. 4.72 − 3.32 =

3. 572 − 582 =
15. 1.32 − 2.62 =

4. 672 − 662 =
16. 652 − 642 + 632 − 622 =

2 2
5. 69 − 67 =
17. 242 − 62 =
6. 542 − 552 =
18. 562 − 552 + 542 − 532 =
7. 672 − 652 =
19. 762 − 742 =
8. 882 − 872 =
20. 3.52 − 6.52 =
9. 482 − 492 =
21. 222 − 232 + 242 − 252 =
10. 972 − 962 = 22. 552 − 502 =
11. 772 − 762 = 23. 832 − 822 + 812 − 802 =
29
24. 552 − 522 = 36. 4.52 − 1.52 =
25. 442 − 432 + 422 − 412 = 37. 212 − 202 + 192 − 182 =
26. 1112 − 1102 + 1092 − 1082 = 38. 582 − 592 + 602 − 612 =
27. 112 − 222 = 39. 722 − 782 =
28. 772 − 762 + 752 − 742 = 40. 242 − 222 + 202 − 182 =
29. 632 − 572 = 41. 892 − 862 + 832 − 802 =
30. 562 − 552 + 542 − 532 = 42. 482 − 622 =
31. 592 − 712 = 43. 742 − 762 + 782 − 802 =
32. 162 − 172 + 182 − 192 = 44. 382 − 272 =
33. 412 − 422 + 432 − 442 = 45. 312 − 332 + 352 − 372 =
34. 182 − 62 = 46. 482 − 442 + 402 − 362 =
35. If x2 + 162 = 192 , then x2 = 47. 792 − 762 + 732 − 702 =
1.3.7 Multiplying Two Numbers Ending in 5

This is helpful trick for multiplying two numbers ending in 5. Let’s look at its derivation, let n1 = a5 = 10a+5
and n2 = b5 = 10b + 5 then:
n1 × n2 = (10a + 5) · (10b + 5)
= 100(ab) + 50(a + b) + 25
a+b
= 100(ab + ) + 25
2
So what does this mean:
1. If a + b is even then the last two digits are 25.
2. If a + b is odd then the last two digits are 75.
a+b
3. The remainder of the answer is just a · b + b c, where bxc is the greatest integer less than or equal
2
to x.
Let’s look at an example in each case:
Ones/Tens: Since 4 + 8 is even 25

4+8
45 × 85 = Rest of Answer: 4×8+ = 32 + 6 38
2
Answer: 3825
30
Ones/Tens: Since 3 + 8 is odd 75
3+8
35 × 85 = Rest of Answer: 3×8+b c = 24 + 5 29
2
Answer: 2975
Problem Set 1.3.7
1. 35 × 45 = 5. 65 × 45 =
2. 95 × 45 = 6. 35 × 85 =
3. 35 × 65 = 7. 65 × 95 =
4. 85 × 55 = 8. 55 × 95 =
1.3.8 Multiplying Mixed Numbers

There are two major tricks involving the multiplication of mixed numbers. The first isn’t really a trick at
all as it is only using technique of FOILing. Let’s illustrate with an example:
1 1 1 1
8 × 24 = (8 + ) × (24 + )
8 8 8 8
1 1 1
= 8 · 24 + (8 + 24) · + ·
8 8 8
1
= 196
64
For the most part, both of the whole numbers in the mixed numbers are usually divisible by the fraction
you are multiplying by (in our example both 8 and 24 are divisible by 8), which means you can just write
down the fractional part of the answer immediately and then continue with the problem.
The other trick for mixed numbers occur when the sum of the fractional part is 1 and the two whole numbers
are the same. For example:
1 2 1 1
9 × 9 = (9 + ) × (9 + )
3 3 3 3
2 1 1 2
= 9 + (9 · 2 + 9) · + ·
3 3 3
2 2
=9 +9+
9
2
= 9(9 + 1) +
9
2
= 90
9
So the trick is:
1. The fractional part of the answer is just the two fractions multiplied together.
2. If the whole part in the problem is n then the whole part of the answer is just n · (n + 1)
Here is another example problem to show the procedure:
31
2 3 6
Fractional Part: ·
5 5 25
2 3
7 ×7 = Whole Part: 7 · (7 + 1) 56
5 5
6
Answer: 56
25
Although these tricks are great (especially FOILing the mixed numbers) sometimes FOILing is very compli-
cated, so the best method is to convert the mixed numbers to improper fractions and see what cancels. For
example, you don’t want to FOIL these mixed numbers:
7 2 7 2 2 7
4 ×2 = · +4· +2· +4·2
12 5 12 5 5 12
The above is really difficult to compute. Instead convert the numbers to improper fractions:
7 2 55 12
4 ×2 = × = 11
12 5 12 5
Usually the best method is to see if you can FOIL the numbers relatively quickly, and if you notice a stum-
bling block try to convert to improper fractions, then multiply.
Here are more practice problems to help you with this trick:
Problem Set 1.3.8
1 1 2 2
1. 4 × 8 = 11. 8 × 4 =
4 4 3 3
2 1 1 1
2. 8 × 8 = 12. 7 × 14 =
3 3 7 7
4 1 1 1
3. 3 × 3 = 13. 5 × 10 =
5 5 5 5
2 1 1 1
4. 4 × 6 = 14. 5 × 25 =
3 4 5 5
2
1 1 2
5. 12 × 8 = 15. 5 =
4 4 5
1 1 1 1
6. 15 × 9 = 16. 8 × 16 =
6 6 8 8
1 1 5 4
7. 6 × 12 = 17. 10 × 12 =
6 6 6 5
1 1 10
8. 11 × 22 = 18. 11 × 11 =
11 11 11
2 2 2 2
9. 25 × 5 = 19. 6 × 9 =
5 5 3 3
2
2
10. 5.2 × 10.2 = 20. 12 =
3
32
1 1 26. 15.2 × 5.2 =
21. 7 × 49 =
7 7
3 2 3 2
22. 3 × 2 = 27. 4 × 4 =
4 5 5 3
23. 4.3 × 2.1 = 28. 3.125 × 1.6 =
5
24. 6 × 6 = 29. 2.375 × 2.4 =
6
2
2 2 2
25. 6 = 30. 2 × 5 =
3 5 5
a
1.3.9 a× Trick
b
a
The following is when you are multiplying an integer times a fraction in the form a × . The derivation of
b
the trick is not of importance, only the result is:
a (a − b)2
a× = [a + (a − b)] +
b b
Let’s look at a couple of examples:
11 (11 − 13)2
11 × = 11 + (11 − 13) +
13 13
4
= 11 − 2 +
13
4
=9
13
It also works for multiplying by fractions larger than 1:
13 (13 − 12)2
13 × = 13 + (13 − 12) +
12 12
1
= 13 + 1 +
12
1
= 14
12
As you can see, when you are multiplying by a fraction less than 1 you will be subtracting the difference
between the numerator and denominator while when you are multiplying by a fraction greater than 1 you
will be adding the difference.
It should be noted that there are exceptions (usually on the fourth column) where applying this trick is
relatively difficult and it is much easier to just convert to improper fractions then subtract. An example of
this is:
7 82 64 4 11
7× − 7 = (7 − 8) + − 7 = −8 + = −8 + 4 + = −3
15 15 15 15 15
The above expression was relatively difficult to compute, however if we convert to improper fractions:
7 7 · 7 7 · 15 7 · (7 − 15) −56 11
7× −7= − = = = −3
15 15 15 15 15 15
This method is a lot less cumbersome and gets the answer relatively swiftly. However, it should be noted
that the majority of times the trick is applicable and should definitely be used.
33
The following are more examples to illustrate this trick:
Problem Set 1.3.9
11 17
1. 11 × = 13. 17 × − 17 =
14 18
22 22
2. 22 × = 14. 22 × − 22 =
25 25
19
3. 19 × = 14
23 15. 14 × − 14 =
17
27
4. 27 × = 17
32 16. 17 × 1 =
21
16
5. 16 × =
19 13
17. 13 × − 13 =
16
29
6. 29 × =
34 11
18. 11 × − 11 =
31 12
7. 31 × =
34
7
19. 7 × −7=
14 15
8. 14 × −3=
17
14
11 20. 14 × − 14 =
9. 11 × +3= 17
14
15
13 21. 15 × − 15 =
10. 13 × + 13 = 17
16
13 35
11. 13 × +4= 22. 35 × 1 =
17 38
13 13
12. 13 × − 13 = 23. 13 × − 13 =
14 15
1.3.10 Combination of Tricks

The following are a practice set of combination of some of the multiplication tricks already mentioned in the
book. Most are approximations which occur on the third or fourth columns of the test.
Problem Set 1.3.10
1. (*) 12 × 14 × 16 = 3. (*) 13 × 15 × 17 =
2. (*) 21 × 31 × 41 = 4. (*) 14 × 16 × 28 =
34
5. (*) 146 × 5 × 154 = 23. (*) 24 × 34 × 44 =
6. (*) 24 × 34 × 44 = 24. (*) 80 × 82 × 84 =
7. (*) 24 × 36 × 48 = 25. (*) 28 × 30 × 32 =
8. (*) 44 × 25 × 112 = 26. (*) 66 × 68 × 70 =
9. (*) 22 × 25 × 28 = 27. (*) 63 × 65 × 67 =
10. (*) 83 × 87 × 91 = 28. (*) 41 × 43 ÷ 51 × 53 =
11. (*) 43 × 47 × 51 = 29. (*) 67 × 56 + 65 × 76 =
12. (*) 27 × 29 × 31 × 33 = 30. (*) 56 × 45 + 54 × 65 =
13. (*) 23 × 33 × 43 = 31. (*) 112 × 123 + 132 × 121 =
14. (*) 29 × 127 + 31 × 213 = 32. (*) 29 × 11 + 31 × 109 =
15. (*) 41 × 44 × 47 = 33. (*) 752 ÷ 252 × 504 =
16. (*) 31 × 42 × 53 = 34. (*) 183 × 153 ÷ 93 =
17. (*) 22 × 44 × 66 = 35. (*) 505 ÷ 255 × 55 =
18. (*) 39 × 40 × 41 = 36. (*) 243 × 213 ÷ 44 =
√ √
19. (*) 3
1329 × 171 × 15 = 37. (*) 213 × 182 ÷ 93 =
20. (*) 42 × 48 × 45 = 38. (*) 754 ÷ 503 × 252 =
21. (*) 52 × 55 × 58 = 39. 242 × 183 ÷ 64 =
√
3
√
22. (*) 18 × 20 × 22 = 40. (*) 3380 × 223 × 16 =
1.4 Dividing Tricks

Most of these tricks concern themselves with finding the remainders when dividing by certain numbers.
35
1.4.1 Finding a Remainder when Dividing by 4, 8, etc...
Everybody knows that to see if a number is divisible by 2 you just have to look at the last digit, and if that
is divisible by 2 (i.e. any even number) then the entire number is divisible by 2. Similarly, you can extend
this principle to see if any integer is divisible by 4, 8, 16, etc... For divisibility by 4 you look at the last two
digits in the number, and if that is divisible by 4, then the entire number is divisible by 4. With 8 it is the
last three digits, and so on. Let’s look at some examples:
123456 ÷ 4 has what remainder? Look at last two digits: 56 ÷ 4 = r0
987654 ÷ 8 has what remainder? Look at last three digits: 654 ÷ 8 = r6

Here are some practice problems to get you familiar with this procedure:
Problem Set 1.4.1
1. 364 ÷ 4 has what remainder? 5. 124680 ÷ 8 has what remainder?
2. 1324354 ÷ 4 has what remainder?


7. Find k so that the five digit number
4. 81736259 ÷ 4 has what remainder? 5318k is divisible by 8:
1.4.2 Finding a Remainder when Dividing by 3, 9, etc...

In order to find divisibility with 3, you can sum up all the digits and see if that result is divisible by 3.
Similarly, you can do the same thing with 9. Let’s look at two examples:
34952 ÷ 3 has what remainder? Sum of the Digits: (3 + 4 + 9 + 5 + 2) = 23 23 ÷ 3 = r2
112321 ÷ 9 has what remainder? Sum of the Digits: (1 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 1) = 10 10 ÷ 9 = r1

For some examples, you can employ faster methods by using modular techniques in order to get the re-
sults quicker (see Section 3.4 Modular Arithmetic). For example, if we were trying to see the remainder of
366699995 when dividing by 3, rather than summing up all the digits (which would be a hassle) and then
seeing the remainder when that is divided by 3, you can look at each digit and figure out what it’s remainder
is when dividing by 3 then summing those. So for our example:
366699995 ∼
= (0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 2) ∼
= 2(mod 3) therefore it leaves a remainder of 2.
Here is a set of practice problems:
Problem Set 1.4.2
1. 24680 ÷ 9 has a remainder of:

36
4. 13579 ÷ 9 has a remainder of: 6. Find the largest integer k such that
3k7 is divisible by 3:
1.4.3 Finding a Remainder when Dividing by 11

Finding the remainder when dividing by 11 is very similar to finding the remainder when dividing by 9
with one catch: you add up alternating digits (beginning with the ones digits) then subtract the sum of the
remaining digits. Let’s look at an example to illustrate the trick:
13542 ÷ 11 has what remainder?
Sum of the Alternating Digits: (2 + 5 + 1) = 8
Sum of the Remaining Digits: (4 + 3) = 7
Remainder: 8−7=1
Sometimes adding then subtracting “down the digits” will be easier than finding two explicit sums then
subtracting. For example, if we were finding the remainder of 3456789 ÷ 11, instead of doing (9 + 7 + 5 +
3) − (8 + 6 + 4) = 24 − 18 = 6 it might be easier to do 9 − 8 + 7 − 6 + 5 − 4 + 3 = 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 = 6. That
is what is so great about number sense tricks, is there are always methods and approaches to making them
faster!
Problem Set 1.4.3
1. 7653 ÷ 11 has a remainder of: 7. Find k so that 23578k

is divisible by 11:
8. Find k so that 1482065k5
3. 142536 ÷ 11 has a remainder of: is divisible by 11:
4. 6253718 ÷ 11 has a remainder of: 9. Find k so that 456k89

is divisible by 11:
10. Find k so that 377337k
6. 325476 ÷ 11 has a remainder of: is divisible by 11:
1.4.4 Finding Remainders of Other Integers

Another popular question on number sense tests include finding the remainder when dividing by 6 or 12 or
some combination of the tricks mentioned above. When dividing seems trivial, sometimes it is best to just
long divide to get the remainder (for example 1225 ÷ 6 = r1 from obvious division), however, when this
seems tedious, you can use a combination of the two of the tricks mentioned above (depending on the factors
of the number you are dividing). Let’s look at an example:
37
Dividing by 2: r1
Dividing by 3: (5 + 5 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 7) = 36 ÷ 3 r0
So now the task is to find an appropriate remainder (less than 6) such that it is odd (has a remainder of 1
when dividing by 2) and is divisible by 3 (has a remainder of 0 when dividing by 3). From this information,
you get r = 3. Let’s look at another example to solidify this procedure:
Dividing by 4: 59 ÷ 4 r3
Dividing by 3: (5 + 4 + 2 + 5 + 9) = 25 ÷ 3 r1
So for this instance, we want an appropriate remainder (less than 12) that has a remainder of 3 when dividing
by 4, and a remainder of 1 when dividing by 3. Running through the integers of interest (0 − 11), you get
the answer r = 7.
The best way of getting faster with this trick is through practice and familiarization of the basic principles.
The following are some more practice questions:
Problem Set 1.4.4
1. 2002 ÷ 6 has a remainder of: 9. If 86k6 is divisible by 6

then the largest value for k is:
11. If 555k is divisible by 6 then the
4. If 852k is divisible by 6 then the largest value for k is:
largest value for k is:
12. Find k> 4 so that the 6-digit
5. 13579248 ÷ 6 has a remainder of: number 3576k2 is divisible by 12:
6. 322766211 ÷ 6 has a remainder of: 13. 735246 ÷ 18 has a remainder of:
8. Find k, k > 0 so that the 4-digit number 567k 15. Find k, k > 0 so that the 5-digit number 8475k
is divisible by 6: is divisible by 6:
1.4.5 Remainders of Expressions

Questions like (43 − 15 × 43) ÷ 6 has what remainder, are very popular and appear anywhere from the 2nd
to the 4th column. This problem has its root in modular arithmetic (See Section 3.4: Modular Arithmetic),
and the procedure for solving it is simply knowing that “the remainders after algebra is equal to the algebra
38
of the remainders.” So instead of actually finding what 43 − 15 × 43 is and then dividing by 6, we can figure
out what the remainder of each term is when dividing by 6, then do the algebra. So:
(43 − 15 × 43) ÷ 6 ∼
= (4 − 3 × 1) ÷ 6 = r1
It should be noted that if a negative value is computed as the remainder, addition of multiples of the number
which you are dividing by are required. Let’s look at an example:
(15 × 43 − 34 × 12) ÷ 7 ∼
= (1 × 1 − 6 × 5) ÷ 7 = −29 ⇒ −29 + 5 · (7) = r6
So in the above question, after computing the algebra of remainders, we get an unreasonable remainder of
−29. So to make this a reasonable remainder (a positive integer such that 0 ≤ r < 7), we added a multiple
of 7 (in this case 35) to get the correct answer.
You can use this concept of “negative remainders” to your benefit as well. For example, if we were trying to see
the remainder of 138 ÷14, the long way of doing it would be noticing that 132 = 169÷14 = r1 ⇒ 14 ÷14 = r1
or you could use this concept of negative remainders (or congruencies if you are familiar with that term) to
say that 138 ÷ 14 ⇒ (−1)8 ÷ 14 = r1.
The following are some practice problems to solidify using the “algebra of remainders” method:
Problem Set 1.4.5
1. (31 × 6 − 17) ÷ 8 has a remainder of: 12. (65 − 4 × 3) ÷ 6 has a remainder of:
2. (34 × 27 + 13) ÷ 4 has a remainder of: 13. (34 × 56 − 12) ÷ 9 has a remainder of:
14. (2 × 34 + 56 ) ÷ 7 has a remainder of:

3. (44 × 34 − 24) ÷ 4 has a remainder of:
15. (23 − 4 × 5 + 6) ÷ 7 has a remainder of:

4. (33 + 23 × 13) ÷ 3 has a remainder of:

17. (1 + 2 − 3 × 45 ) ÷ 6 has a remainder of:
18. (82 + 4 × 6 − 10) ÷ 3 has a remainder of:
19. (12 × 5 + 18 + 15) ÷ 8 has a remainder of:
8. (15 × 3 − 62 ) ÷ 9 has a remainder of:

20. (73 + 82 − 91 ) ÷ 6 has a remainder of:

21. (20 + 4 × 62 ) ÷ 8 has a remainder of:
10. (65 × 4 − 32 ) ÷ 10 has a remainder of: 22. (72 × 64 − 83) ÷ 7 has a remainder of:
11. (34 × 56 − 12) ÷ 9 has a remainder of: 23. (15 × 30 − 45) ÷ 7 has a remainder of:
39
4 6 10
26. (92 − 7 × 5) ÷ 4 has a remainder of:
1.4.6 Dividing by 9 Trick

From Section 1.4.2 it is explained how a remainder can be found when dividing by 9. However, you can
continue this process of adding select digits to get the complete answer when dividing by 9. The following is
the result when you divide a four digit number abcd by 9 without carries. The details of the proof is omitted,
only the result is shown:
a+b+c+d
Fractional Part:
9
Ones: a+b+c
abcd ÷ 9 =
Tens: a+b
Hundreds: a
I think the gist of the trick is self explanatory, let’s look at a simple example:
1+1+2+3 7
Fractional Part:
9 9
Ones: 1+2+3 6
3211 ÷ 9 = Tens: 2+3 5
Hundreds: 3 3
7
Answer: 356
9
Here is a little bit more complicated of a problem involving a larger number being divided as well as
incorporating carries:
7+5+2+2+3 1
Fractional Part: 2
9 9
Ones: 5+2+2+3+2 14
Tens: 2+2+3+1 8
32257 ÷ 9 =
Hundreds: 2+3 5
Thousands: 3 3
1
Answer: 3584
9
Here are some problems to give you more practice with this trick:
Problem Set 1.4.6
40
1. 354 ÷ 9 = 5. 456 ÷ 9 =
2. 503 ÷ 9 = 6. 1234 ÷ 9 =
3. 2003 ÷ 9 = 7. 12345 ÷ 9 =
4. 321 ÷ 9 = 8. 2475 ÷ 45 =
a b
1.4.7 Converting 40 and 80 , etc... to Decimals
The following isn’t necessarily a trick but more of a procedure I like to follow when I am approached with
a b a
converting and into decimals (usually on the first column of problems). So for I treat it as:
40 80 40
1 a
a a 4 4
= × 1 =
40 40 4
10
b
So the technique is to divide the numerator by 4 then shift the decimal point over. Similarly, for you
80
want to divide by 8 and shift the decimal point over. Let’s look at a couple of examples:
43 3 .75
=1+ =1+ = 1.075
40 40 10
27 27 3.375
⇒ = 3.375 ⇒ = .3375
80 8 10
Here are some practice problems of this type:
Problem Set 1.4.7
1 8. 48 is % greater than 40
1. = %
40
3 7
2. = % 9. = %
40 40
7 10. 32 is what % of 80?

3. = %
40
21 11
4. = % 11. = %
40 40
43 32
5. = (dec.) 12. = (dec.)
40 (23 )(52 )
3 13. 72 is what % of 400? %

6. (dec.)
(23 )(51 )
5
7. .0125 = % (frac.) 14. = (dec.)
(23 )(52 )
41
7 43
15. 4 = % 18. = (dec.)
20 (23 )(52 )
5 19. 1.6 is % of 20
16. = %
80
34
17. 27.5% = (frac.) 20. = (dec.)
(24 )(54 )
1.5 Adding and Subtracting Tricks

The following are tricks where adding/subtracting are required to solve the problems.
1.5.1 Subtracting Reverses

A common first column problem from the early 2000s involves subtracting two numbers whose digits are
reverses of each other (like 715 − 517 or 6002 − 2006). Let the first number n1 = abc = 100a + 10b + c so the
second number with the digits reversed would be n2 = cba = 100c + 10b + a so:
n1 − n2 = (100a + 10b + c) − (100c + 10b + a)

= 100(a − c) + (c − a)
= 100(a − c) − (a − c)
So the gist of the trick is:

1. Take the difference between the most significant and the least significant digit and multiply it by 100
if it is a three-digit number, or if it is a four digit number multiply by 1000 (however, it only works
for 4-digit numbers and above if the middle digits are 0’s; for example, 7002 − 2007 the method works
but 7012 − 2107 it doesn’t work).
2. Then subtract from that result the difference between the digits.
Step 1: (8 − 2) × 100 600
812 − 218 = Step 2: 600 − 6 594
Answer: 594
It also works for when the subtraction is a negative number, but you need to be careful:
Step 1: (1 − 5) × 100 −400
105 − 501 = Step 2: −400 − (1 − 5) −396
Answer: −396
Like I said, you have to be careful with negative signs, a better (and highly recommended approach outlined
in the next section) is to say: 105−501 = −(501−105) = −396. By negating and reversing the numbers, you
deal with positive numbers which are naturally more manageable. After you find the solution, you negate
the result because of the sign switch.
Problem Set 1.5.1
1. 654 − 456 =
3. 4002 − 2004 =
2. 256 − 652 =
42
4. 702 − 207 =
8. 2003 − 3002 =
5. 453 − 354 =
9. 678 − 876 =
6. 5002 − 2005 =
10. 2007 − 7002 =
7. 2006 − 6002 =
1.5.2 Switching Numbers and Negating on Subtraction

Far too common, students make a mistake when subtracting two fractions whose result is a negative answer.
5 11
An example of this is 4 −10 . Most of the time, it is incredibly easier switching the order of the subtraction
6 12
then negating the answer. Taking the above problem as an example:
5 11 11 5
4 − 10 = −(10 − 4 )
6 12 12 6
11 10
= −(10 − 4 )
12 12
1
= −(6 )
12
Here is another example to illustrate the same point:
5 2 2 5
2 − 4 = −(4 − 2 )
6 3 3 6
4 5
= −(4 − 2 )
6 6
5
= −(1 )
6
Problems Set 1.5.2
2 5 4 1
1. 2 − 3 = 9. 3 − 5 =
3 6 9 3
2 3 6 13
2. 4 − 6 = 10. 5 − 12 =
3 5 7 14
5 5 1 1
3. 1 − 3 = 11. 3 − 6 =
9 9 6 3
3 3 5 2
4. 2 − 4 = 12. 2 − 4 =
4 5 6 3
3 7 23
5. 1 − 3 = 13. 4 − 12 =
7 8 24
3 1 5 11
6. 2 −3 = 14. 4 − 10 =
8 4 6 12
3 7 3 1
7. 2 − 6 = 15. 2 − 7 =
4 8 5 10
4 9 4 2
8. 3 − 8 = 16. 1 − 3 =
5 10 5 5
43
a a
1.5.3 + + ···
b · (b + 1) (b + 1) · (b + 2)
The best way to illustrate this trick is by example:
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + = + + +
6 12 20 30 2 · 3 3 · 4 4 · 5 5 · 6
1+1+1+1
=
2·6
4 1
= =
12 3
a a
So the strategy when you see a series in the form of b·(b+1) + (b+1)·(b+2) +· · · is to add up all the numerators and
then divide it by the smallest factor in the denominators multiplied by the largest factor in the denominators.
Let’s look at another series:
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + + = + + + +
42 56 72 90 110 6 · 7 7 · 8 8 · 9 9 · 10 10 · 11
1+1+1+1+1
=
6 · 11
5
=
66
Problems Set 1.5.3
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1. + + + = 3. + + =
12 20 30 42 30 42 56
1 1 1 1 7 7 7
2. + + + = 4. + + =
72 90 110 132 30 20 12
a b
1.5.4 + Trick
b a
a b
Let’s look at when we add the two fractions + :
b a
a b a2 + b2
+ =
b a ab
2ab 2ab a2 + b2
= − +
ab ab ab
(a − b)2
=2+
ab
Here is an example:
5 7 (7 − 5)2 4
+ =2+ =2
7 5 7·5 35
There are some variations to this trick. For example:
22

11 2 11 13 11 4
+ = + − =2+ −1=1
13 11 13 11 11 143 143
This is a popular variation that is used especially on the last column of the test because the trick is there
but not as obvious.
The following are some practice problems to help you master this trick:
Problems Set 1.5.4
44
12 13 5 7
1. + = 12. + −3=
13 12 7 5
5 6 15 2
2. + = 13. + =
6 5 17 15
15 19
3. + = 11 4
19 15 14. + =
15 11
3 5
4. + −2= 11 2
5 3 15. + =
13 11
7 5
5. + −1=
5 7 14 1
16. + =
15 14
11 2
6. + =
13 11 12 1
17. 1 +1 =
7 6 13 12
7. + =
13 7
5 7
5 1 18. + ÷2=
8. +1 −2= 7 5
6 5
11 1
13 2 19. + =
9. + = 12 11
15 13
5 8 9 15 7
10. + − = 20. + −1=
8 5 40 22 15
3 5 11 11 3
11. + + = 21. + −2=
5 3 15 14 11
a na − 1
1.5.5 −
b nb + 1
a na − 1
The following deals with subtracting fractions in the form − . Most of these problems are on the
b nb + 1
3rd of 4th columns, and they are relatively easy to pick out because of how absurd the problem would be if
you didn’t know the formula:
a na − 1 (a + b)
− =
b nb + 1 b · (nb + 1)
So the numerator of the answer is just the sum of the numerator and denominator of the first number (e.g.,
the number who’s numerator and denominators are small values) while the denominator of the answer is
just the multiplication of the two denominators. Here is an example:
6 29 6+7 13
− = =
7 36 7 · 36 252
Like I said it is easy to notice when to do this problem because, if you didn’t know the formula, if would be
relatively difficult to solve swiftly.
There is one variation to the formula which is:

a na + 1 −(a + b)
− =
b nb − 1 b · (nb − 1)
When approached with these problems, it is best to take time to notice which type it is. The easiest way of
seeing which formula to apply is to look at the denominator of the more “complicated” number and see if it
45
is one greater or one less than a multiple of the denominator of the “simple” number. Here’s an example:
7 43 −(7 + 11) −18

− = =
11 65 11 · 65 715
So on the above question, notice that 65 is one less a multiple of 11, so you know to apply the second formula.
Here are some practice problems to help you out:
Problems Set 1.5.5
4 11 3 14
1. − = 12. − =
9 28 8 41
2 7 7 15
2. − = 13. − =
7 29 15 29
4 11 5 24
3. − = 14. − =
13 40 8 41
7 27 8 31
4. − = 15. − =
15 61 9 37
8 31 10 39
5. − = 16. − =
11 45 11 45
8 87 11 32
6. − = 17. − =
11 122 16 49
3 26 8 87
7. − = 18. − =
8 73 11 122
4 67 4 35
8. − = 19. − =
5 86 7 64
8 41 9 2
9. − = 20. − =
3 14 46 9
8 87 3 14
10. − = 21. − =
9 100 8 41
67 17 7 55
11. − = 22. − =
81 20 11 89
46
2 Memorizations
2.1 Important Numbers
2.1.1 Squares
In order for faster speed in taking the test, squares up to 25 should definitely be memorized with memorization
of squares up to 50 being highly recommended. In the event that memorization can’t be achieved, remember
the tricks discussed in Section 1 of the book as well as the method of FOILing. The following table should
aid in memorization:
112 = 121 122 = 144 132 = 169 142 = 196
152 = 225 162 = 256 172 = 289 182 = 324
192 = 361 202 = 400 212 = 441 222 = 484
232 = 529 242 = 576 252 = 625 262 = 676
272 = 729 282 = 784 292 = 841 302 = 900
312 = 961 322 = 1024 332 = 1089 342 = 1156
352 = 1225 362 = 1296 372 = 1369 382 = 1444
392 = 1521 402 = 1600 412 = 1681 422 = 1764
432 = 1849 442 = 1936 452 = 2025 462 = 2116
472 = 2209 482 = 2304 492 = 2401 502 = 2500
On the next page you will find practice problems concerning squares. Avoid FOILing when possible so that
you can work on having automatic responses on some of the questions.
47
Problems Set 2.1.1
1. 282 = 21. 172 =
2. 3.22 = 22. 33 × 33 =
3. 29 × 29 = 23. Find x < 0 when x2 = 729 :
√
4. 16 × 16 = 24. (*) 1090 × 31 =
√
5. 312 = 25. (*) 291 × 23 =
√ √
6. If 2.2 cm= 1 inch, then 26. −196 × −256 =
2.2 in equals how many cm.?
3
27. of 24% of 1.8:
7. 34 × 34 = 4
√
28. (*) 509 × 905 =
8. 17 × 17 =
√ √ √
29. (*) 327 × 397 × 487 =
9. 23 × 23 =
30. (*) 144 =

10. 18 × 18 =
√ √
11. 24% of 24 is: 31. (*) 362 × 440 =
√
12. 232 = 32. 959 × 960 =
13. 322 = 33. (*) 134 =
√
14. 14 × 14 = 34. (*) 451 × 451 =
√ √ √
15. 212 = 35. (*) 574 × 577 × 580 =
16. 242 = 36. (*) 174 =
√ √
17. 31% of 31 is: 37. (*) 1025 × 63 =
18. What is 27% of 27: 38. (*) 28 × 56 × 14 ÷ 42 =
√
19. 342 = 39. (*) 1030 × 25 =
20. 262 = 40. (*) 214 =
48
2.1.2 Cubes
The following cubes should also be memorized:
53 = 125 63 = 216 73 = 343 83 = 512
93 = 729 103 = 1000 113 = 1331 123 = 1728
133 = 2197 143 = 2744 153 = 3375 163 = 4096
173 = 4913 183 = 5832 193 = 6859 203 = 8000
Again, only FOIL when necessary on the practice problems on the next page.
49
Problem Set 2.1.2
p √
3
1. 3
(1728) = 21. (*) 1730 × 145 =
1
2. 113 = 22. (27 ÷ 216) 3
3. 14 × 14 × 14 = 23. If x = 7 then (x + 3)(x2 − 3x + 9) =
1 √ √
3
4. (−343) 3 = 24. 676 ÷ −2197 =
1
5. 123 = 25. (1.728) 3 =
6. 163 = 26. 83 × 53 =
√ √
7. 3
1728 ÷ 36 = 27. 115 ÷ 121 =
√
8. 114 ÷ 11 = 28. 3
1.331 =
9. (−12)3 = 29. (*) 89 × 90 × 91 =
1 √
3
10. (2197) 3 = 30. .729 =
1
11. (−729) 3 31. (*) (121)3 =
12. 83 = 32. 34 − 63 + 92 =
√ √
13. 153 = 33. 3
1728 ÷ 576 =
√ √
3
14. 12 × 12 × 12 = 34. 225 × 3375 =
1
15. (125 ÷ 64) 3 = 35. 83 − 93 =
16. 133 = 36. (*) 133 × 34 =
17. 7 × 7 × 7 = 37. 23 × 53 × 73 =
1
18. −1331 3 = 38. (*) 119 × 120 × 121 =
19. 6 × 6 × 6 = 39. (*) 143 × 45 =
20. 15 × 15 × 15 = 40. 84 =
50
2.1.3 Powers of 2, 3, 5
Memorizing powers of certain integers like 2, 3, 5, etc... can be beneficial in solving a variety of problems
ranging from approximation problems to logarithm problems. In some instances, powers of integers can be
2
calculated based on other means than memorization. For example, 74 = 72 = 492 = 2401 However, the
following powers should be memorized for quick calculation:
23 = 8 33 = 27 53 = 125
24 = 16 34 = 81 54 = 625
25 = 32 35 = 243 55 = 3125
26 = 64 36 = 729
27 = 128 37 = 2187
28 = 256
29 = 512
210 = 1024
On the next page are problems concerning higher powers of certain integers.
51
Problem Set 2.1.3
1. 53 + 33 + 23 = 19. 5x−1 = 3125, then x + 1 =
2. 23 − 33 − 43 = 20. 23 − 33 − 53 =
√ √ 34
3. ( 64 − 36)5 = 21. =
23 · 53
4. 5x = 125, x5 = 22. 63 + 43 + 23 =
5. 43 − 53 = 23. 34 + 43 = 5 · x, then x =
6. 2x+1 = 32, x − 1 = 24. (*) 51 + 42 + 33 + 24 + 15 =
7. 23 + 33 + 53 = 25. 9x = 243, then x =
8. 53 − 33 = 26. 83 × 53 =
√
3
9. 125 × 512 = 27. 23 × 83 × 53 =
10. 23 + 33 + 43 − 53 = 28. 25 × 34 × 52 =
11. x3 = 64, so 3x = 29. 24 × 72 × 53 =
12. 45 × 55 = 30. 42 × 52 × 62 =
13. 272 = 31. 25 × 33 × 52 =
14. If x5 = −32, then 5x = 32. 23 × 34 × 55 =
15. 25 × 53 = 33. (33 − 23 + 13 ) × 53 =
16. 84 × 54 = 34. 25 × 34 × 52 =
17. (*) 55 + 44 + 33 + 22 + 11 = 35. 25 × 34 × 55 =
18. 26 × 54 = 36. 23 × 32 × 42 × 53 =
52
2.1.4 Important Fractions
The following fractions should be memorized for reasons stated in Section 1.2.5. In addition, early problems
on the test typically involve converting these fractions to decimals and percentages. So if these conversions
were memorized, a lot of time would be saved. Omitted are the “obvious” fractions ( 14 , 31 , 15 , etc...).
Fraction % Fraction % Fraction % / Decimal
1 2 1 2 1 1
16 % 14 % 12 % = .125
6 3 7 7 8 2
5 1 2 4 3 1
83 % 28 % 37 % = .375
6 3 7 7 8 2
3 6 5 1
42 % 62 % = .625
7 7 8 2
4 1 7 1
57 % 87 % = .875
7 7 8 2
5 3
71 %
7 7
6 5
85 %
7 7
Fraction % Fraction % Fraction % Fraction %
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
11 % 9 % 8 % 6 %
9 9 11 11 12 3 16 4
2 2 2 2 5 2 3 3
22 % 18 % 41 % 18 %
9 9 11 11 12 3 16 4
3 3 3 3 7 1 5 1
33 % 27 % 58 % 31 %
9 9 11 11 12 3 16 4
4 4 4 4 11 2 7 3
44 % 36 % 91 % 43 %
9 9 11 11 12 3 16 4
5 5 5 5 9 1
55 % 45 % 56 %
9 9 11 11 16 4
6 6 6 6 11 3
66 % 54 % 68 %
9 9 11 11 16 4
7 7 7 7 13 1
77 % 63 % 81 %
9 9 11 11 16 4
8 8 8 8 15 3
88 % 72 % 93 %
9 9 11 11 16 4
9 9
81 %
11 11
10 10
90 %
11 11
53
Fraction % Fraction %
1 9 1 1
7 % 7 %
13 13 14 7
2 5 3 3
15 % 21 %
13 13 14 7
3 1 5 5
23 % 35 %
13 13 14 7
4 10 9 2
30 % 64 %
13 13 14 7
5 6 11 4
38 % 78 %
13 13 14 7
6 2 13 6
46 % 92 %
13 13 14 7
7 11
53 %
13 13
8 7
61 %
13 13
9 3
69 %
13 13
10 12
76 %
13 13
11 8
84 %
13 13
12 4
92 %
13 13
To aid in memorization, it would first help to memorize the first fractions in each column. From, here the
others can be quickly derived by multiplying the initial fraction by the required integer to get the desired
1 1 5
results. For example, if you only had memorized as 9 %, but you need to know what is, then you
11 11 11
could simply multiply by 5:
1 1 5
5× = 5 × 9 % = 45 %
11 11 11
Although memorization of all fractions is ideal, this method will result in correctly answering the question,
albeit a lot slower.
On the next page you’ll find a variety of practice problems.
54
Problem Set 2.1.4
1 9
1. 12 % = (frac.) 19. Which is smaller or .8?
2 11
11 3
2. = % 20. = %
5 7
5 7
3. Which is larger or .56? 21. = %
9 9
5 22. .08333 . . . + .1666 . . . + .25 =

4. Which is larger or .622 :
8
7
17 23. Which is smaller or .56 :
5. = (dec.) 11
8
9
24. Which is larger or 81%?
6. .777 . . . − .333 . . . + .555 . . . = 11
25. .1666 . . . + .333 . . . + .8333 . . . =

3
7. = %
5
7
26. = % (dec.)
1 16
8. = (dec.)
8
27. 32 ÷ .181818 . . . =
9
9. Which is smaller or .81?
11 2
28. = %
7
1
10. = %
16 −5
29. Which is larger −.375 or ?
12
11. .125 − .375 − .625 =
30. .333 . . . − .666 . . . − .999 . . . =
11
12. = % 1
4 31. = %
14
5
13. Which is larger or .555 or 55%?
9 32. .0625 + .125 + .25 =
14. .1666 . . . − .333 . . . + .8333 . . . = 5

33. 55 % of 27 is:
9
15. The reciprocal of −1.0625 is:
34. 12.5% of 24 is:
5 −2
16. Which is larger .46 or ? 35. Which is larger −.27 or ?
11 7
17. .111 . . . − .333 . . . − .666 . . . = 36. 55 ÷ .454545 . . . =
18. 37.5% = (frac.) 37. .111 . . . − .1666 . . . − .333 . . . =
55
5 2
38. = % (dec.) 54. 64 % = (frac.)
16 7
39. 363 ÷ .272727 . . . = 55. 1.21 ÷ .09090 . . . =
3 7
40. 21 % = (frac.) 56. 1 = % (frac.)
7 8
41. 88 × .090909 . . . = 57. 6.25% = (frac.)
4 17
42. 4 ÷ .444 . . . = 58. = %
5 14
3 6
43. = % 59. 42 % = (frac.)
14 7
5 3
44. 35 % = (frac.) 60. 3 % = (frac.)
7 4
1
45. 72 × .083333 . . . = 61. 1 %= (frac.)
10
4 6
46. 78 % = (frac.) 62. 92 % = (frac.)
7 7
47. 911 ÷ .090909 . . . = 1

63. 7 % = (frac.)
7
1
48. = % 64. 75 is 3.125% of
12
11 7
49. = % 65. 6 % = (dec.)
14 8
13
50. 50 is 6.25% of 66. = %
14
1
51. 242 ÷ .181818 . . . = 67. 3 %= (frac.)
13
2 15
52. 16 % × 482 = 68. = %
3 14
3
53. 75 ÷ .5555 . . . = 69. 21 % = (frac.)
7
2.1.5 Special Integers

The following integers have important properties which are exploited regularly on the number sense test.
They are:
56
1001 10101 10010
999 : 999 = 27 × 37 77 : 77 = 3367 : 3367 = 1430 : 1430 =
13 3 7
2002 10101
1073 : 1073 = 29 × 37 154 : 154 = 1443 : 1443 =
13 7
..
.
9009
693 : 693 =
13
The following are some examples showing how to use these special numbers:
999 Trick:
1 1 1 1 1
333 × × = × 999 × ×
27 37 3 27 37
1 27 · 37
= ×
3 27 · 37
1
=
3
1001 Trick:
385 × 13 = 77 × 5 × 13
1001
= × 5 × 13
13
= 1001 × 5
= 5005
10101 Trick:
10101
1443 × 56 = × 56
7
56
= 10101 ×
7
= 10101 × 8
= 80808
On the next page you’ll find a wealth of problems to practice this trick.
57
Problem Set 2.1.5
1. 572 × 21 = 20. 429 × 357 =
2 21. 14 × 715 =
2. × 999 =
37
22. 42 × 429 =
3. 33.67 × 15 =
23. 21 × 336.7 =
4. 715 × 35 =
24. 36 × 3.367 =
5. 3367 × 21 =
25. 715 × 49 =
6. 1073 ÷ 29 =
26. 33.67 × 27 =
7. 715 × 28 =
27. 707 × 715 =
8. 429 × 35 =
28. 429 × 21 =
9. 63 × 429 =
29. 336.7 × 3.3 =
10. 1073 ÷ 37 =
30. 707 × 429 =
5
11. 444 × =
37 31. 385 × 13 =
12. 63 × 572 = 7
32. 111 × =
27
13. 143 × 49 = 1001× 33. 539 × 13 =
14. 29 × 37 = 2
34. 666 × =
37
15. 42 × 715 = 5
35. (*) × 5548 =
37
16. 715 × 98 = 1 1
36. 333 × × =
27 37
17. 27 × 37 = 37. 462 × 13 =
18. 715 × 77 = 7 7
38. 999 × × =
27 37
19. 105 × 715 = 39. 6006 ÷ 462 =
58
4 4
40. 444 × = 54. 888 × =
37 37
1
41. 770 × 13 = 55. 666 × =
27
4 7
42. 888 × = 56. 777 × =
37 37
16 24 2
43. 666 × × = 57. 444 × =
27 37 27
44. 143 × 77 = 3
58. 999 × =
37
45. 143 × 63 = 3
59. 666 × =
27
46. 84 × 429 = 24
60. 888 × =
27
47. 143 × 49 = 1
61. 999 × =
27
5
48. 444 × = 62. 143 × 13 × 7 =
37
1 18
49. 222 × = 63. 666 × =
27 37
50. 63 × 143 = 5
64. 999 × =
27
6
51. 555 × = 65. 1001 × 25 = 143×
37
1
52. 444 × = 66. 3 × 11 × 13 × 21 =
27
53. 143 × 77 = 67. 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 =
2.1.6 Roman Numerals

The following are the roman numerals commonly tested on the exam:
I=1 V=5 X = 10 L = 50
C = 100 D = 500 M = 1000

Knowing the above table and also the fact that you arrange the numerals in order from greatest to least
(M → I) with the exception of one rule: you can’t put four of the same numerals consecutively. For example,
to express 42 in roman numerals it would not be 42 =XXXXII, it would be 42 =XLII. To circumvent the
problem of putting four of the same numerals consecutively, you use a method of “subtraction.” Anytime a
numeral of lesser value is placed in front of a numeral of greater value, you subtract from the larger numeral
the small numeral. So in our case 40 is represented by XL=50 − 10 = 40. When converting numbers, it is
best to think of the number as a sum of ones, tens, hundreds, etc... units). A good example of what I mean
is to express 199 in roman numerals. The way you want to look at it is 199 = 100 + 90 + 9 then express each
59
one as a roman numeral. So 100 = C, 90 = XC, and 9 = IX, so 199 = CXCIX.
Problem Set 2.1.6
1. MMXLII = 18. MCXI + DLV =
2. XLIV = 19. MMV − DCXLI =
3. MMIII = 20. MMLIX − LIII =
4. CXCIX = 21. MCXI − DLV =
5. MDCLXVI = 22. CMIX − CDIV =
6. CDXLIV = 23. MDXLV − XV =
7. CCLXXVII = 24. DCII ÷ IX =
8. MCDLIX = 25. CCCLXXIV ÷ XI =
9. CMXCIX = 26. CDI × V =
10. MMCCXXII = 27. CCLXXX ÷ XIV =
11. CXI − CC = 28. MMV ÷ V =
12. MD + DC = 29. XXVII × CXI =
13. CM + XC + IX = 30. MI × XI =
14. DC − LX − VI = 31. MMVII × XXV =
15. XIII + MMIV= 32. MCCLX ÷ XV =
16. MIII + MIV = 33. MMVI × XI =
17. MC + DL + XIV = 34. CDIV ÷ XL =
2.1.7 Platonic Solids and Euler’s Formula

The following is a list of important characteristics of Platonic Solids which are popularly asked on the test:
60
Platonic Solid Face Polygons # of Faces # of Vertices # of Edges
Tetrahedron Triangles 4 4 6
Cube Squares 6 8 12
Octahedron Triangles 8 6 12
Dodecahedron Pentagons 12 20 30
Icosahedron Triangles 20 12 30
If you ever forget one of the characteristics of the solids but remember the other two, you can always use
Euler’s formula of: Faces + Vertices − Edges = 2 to get the missing value.
The following is a short problem set concerning Platonic Solids. For best practice, cover up the above
table!
Problem Set 2.1.7
1. A dodecahedron has vertices. 7. A dodecahedron is a platonic solid

with 30 edges and vertices.
2. An icosahedron has congruent faces.
8. An octahedron has vertices.

3. The area of the base of a tetrahedron is
4 ft2 . The total surface area is ft2 .
9. An icosahedron is a platonic solid with

4. A tetrahedron has vertices.
30 edges and vertices.
5. An octahedron has edges.

10. A dodecahedron is a platonic solid with
6. A hexahedron has faces. 30 edges and vertices.
2.1.8 π and e Approximations

Using the standard approximations of: π ≈ 3.1, e ≈ 2.7, and e2 ≈ 7.4 lead to the beneficial results of:
π 2 ≈ 10, e3 ≈ 20, and π · e ≈ 8.5
Knowing these values, we can approximate various powers of e and π relatively simple and within the require
margin of error of ±5%. The following is an example where these approximations are useful:
(e × π)4 = e4 × π 4
2
= e · e3 · π 2
≈ e · 20 · 100
≈ e · 2000
≈ 5400
The following are more practice problems concerning these approximations:
61
Problem Set 2.1.8
1. (*) 2π 4 = 9. (*) (e + 1.3)5 =
2. (*) e2 × π 4 = 10. (*) [(π − .2)(e + .3)]3 =
3. (*) e4 = 11. (*) (π + 1.9)3 (e + 2.3)3 =
4. (*) π 5 = 12. (*) (4e)3 =
5. (*) (e × π)4 = 13. (*) e4 π 4 =
6. (*) π 5 + e4 = 14. (*) π e eπ =
7. (*) π 3 × e4 = 15. (*) (3π + 2e)4 =
8. (*) (3π)4 = 16. (*) π π ee =
2.1.9 Distance and Velocity Conversions

The following are important conversion factors for distance and velocities:
1 mile = 5280 ft.

1
1 ft/hr = in/min
1 mile = 1760 yd. 5
88
22 1 mile/hr = in/s
1 mile/hr = ft/s 5
15
1 inch = 2.54 cm.
1
1 ft/min = in/s
5
The following is a short problem set concerning these conversions. For best practice, cover up the above
table!
Problem Set 2.1.9
1. 15 miles per hour = feet per second. 5. 7.5 mph = inches per second.
2. 3.5 yards = inches. 6. 12 12 % of a mile = yards.
3. .375 of a foot = in. 7. 25% of a mile = yards.
1
4. 48 inches per second = ft/min. 8. of a mile = feet.
3
62
3 15. 36 in/s = inches per minute.
9. of 3 yards = inches.
4
2
10. of a mile = ft. 16. 480 inches per minute = in/s.
3
11. 10 feet = yards.

17. 45 mph = ft/s.
1
12. 83 % of a foot = inches.
3
18. 33 ft/s = mph.
13. 30 mph = ft/sec.
14. 30 feet per minute = feet per second. 19. 7.5 mph = ft/s.
2.1.10 Conversion between Distance → Area, Volume

Students find linear conversions relatively simple (for example 1ft. = 12in.), however when asked to find
how many cubic inches are in cubic feet, they want to revert back to the linear conversion, which is incorrect
(1ft.3 6= 12in.3 ). When converting between linear distance to areas and volumes you must square or cube
the conversion factor, respectively. So in our example, we know that:
1ft. = 12in. =⇒ 1ft.3 = (12)3 in.3 = 1728in.3
Another example converting ft.2 to yd.2 is:
1yd. = 3ft. =⇒ 1yd.2 = (3)2 ft.2 = 9ft.
Problem Set 2.1.10
1. 3 cubic yards = ft.3 9. 1 square meter = square centimeters.
2. 1 cubic foot = cubic inches. 10. 12 square feet = square yards.
3. 9 square yards = square feet.

11. 216 square inches = square feet.
4. 432 square inches = ft.2

12. 1728 cubic inches = cubic feet.
5. 3 square yards = square feet.
1
13. 1 cubic yards = cubic feet.
6. 243 cubic feet = cubic yards. 3
7. 3 cubic feet = cubic inches. 14. 2 cubic feet = cubic inches.
8. 4320 cubic inches = cubic feet. 15. 5 square decameters = square meters.
63
2.1.11 Fluid and Weight Conversions
The following are important fluid conversions. Although some conversions can be made from others (for
example, the amount of cups in a gallon doesn’t need to be explicitly stated, but it would be helpful to have
it memorized so you don’t have to multiply how many quarts in a gallon, how many pints in a quart, and
how many cups in a pint), it is recommended that everything in the table should be memorized:
1 gallon = 4 quarts
1 tbsp. = .5 oz.
1 quart = 2 pints
1
1 tsp. = oz.
1 pint = 2 cups 6
1 gallon = 231 in3
1 gallon = 16 cups
1 pound = 16 oz.
1 gallon = 128 oz.
1 ton = 2000 lbs.
1 cup = 8 oz.
Problem Set 2.1.11
1. 1 quart = cups 13. 2 quarts is what % of a pint:
2. 1 quart = ounces 14. 6 tablespoons is % of a cup
3. 3 pints = ounces 15. 9 cups is what % of a quart:
4. 3 gallons = cubic inches 16. A quart is what % of a cup:
2
5. gallon = cubic inches 17. 2541 cubic inches = gallons
3
1
6. 1 gallon = cubic inches 18. 3 pints is what % of a cup:
3
7. 75% of 1 gallon = ounces 19. 3 pints is what % of a gallon:
8. 256 ounces = pounds 20. 5 gallons = cubic inches
9. 750 pounds = % of a ton 21. 32 ounces = pints
10. 75% of a gallon = pints 22. 3.5 pints = quarts
1
11. 12 % of a pint = ounces 23. 2.5 pints = cups
2
12. 4 pints is what % of a gallon: 24. 37.5% of a gallon is pints
64
25. 62.5% of a gallon is quarts
3
30. of a quart = ounces
26. 87.5% of a gallon is ounces 8
7
31. of a gallon = cubic inches
27. 16 ounces is what part of a gallon: 11
32. 3 quarts and 2 pints = ounces

28. 1 gallon = cubic inches
3 33. 7 quarts and 6 pints = gallons

29. of a gallon = cubic inches
11
2.1.12 Celsius to Fahrenheit Conversions

These types of problems used to always be on the Number Sense tests in the early 1990’s but have since
been noticeably absent until recently. Here are the conversion factors:
5
Fahrenheit → Celcius: C = (F − 32)
9
9
Celcius → Fahrenheit: F = C + 32
5
There is a shortened trick for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit:
1. Double the given temperature in Celsius.
2. Move the decimal over to the left one and subtract that from the doubled number.
3. Add 32 to that result to get the answer.
Using this technique, lets convert 20◦ Celsius to Fahrenheit:
20◦ C ⇒ 40 − 4 = 36 ⇒ 36 + 32 = 68◦ F
A couple of important degrees which pop-up frequently that are fit for memorization are:
32◦ F = 0◦ C, 212◦ F = 100◦ C, and −40◦ F = −40◦ C.
Do the following conversions:
Problem Set 2.1.12
1. 25◦ C = ◦
F
3. 98.6◦ F = ◦
C
◦ ◦
2. −40 C = F
2.2 Formulas
The following are handy formulas which, when mastered, will lead to solving a large handful of problems.
2.2.1 Sum of Series

The following are special series who’s sums should be memorized:
Sum of the First m Integers
65
m
X m · (m + 1)
n = 1 + 2 + 3 + ··· + m =
n=1
2
Example:
11 · 12
1 + 2 + 3 · · · + 11 = = 66
2
Sum of the First m Odd Integers
m 2
X (2m − 1) + 1
2n − 1 = 1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + (2m − 1) = = m2
n=1
2
Example:
2
15 + 1
1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + 15 = = 82 = 64
2
Sum of the First m Even Numbers
m
X
2n = 2 + 4 + 6 + · · · + 2m = m · (m + 1)
n=1
Example:
22 22
2 + 4 + 6 + · · · + 22 = · +1 = 11 · 12 = 132
2 2
Sum of First m Squares
m
X m · (m + 1) · (2m + 1)
n2 = 12 + 22 + · · · + m2 =
n=1
6
Example:
10 · (10 + 1) · (2 · 10 + 1)
12 + 22 + · · · + 102 = = 35 · 11 = 385
6
Sum of the First m Cubes
m 2
X
3 3 3 3 m · (m + 1)
n = 1 + 2 + ··· + m =
n=1
2
Example:
2
10 · 11
13 + 23 + 33 + · · · + 103 = = 552 = 3025
2
Sum of the First m Alternating Squares
m
X m · (m + 1)
(−1)n+1 n2 = 12 − 22 + 32 − · · · ± m2 = ±
n=1
2
Examples:
9 · 10
12 − 22 + 32 − · · · + 92 = = 45
2
12 · 13
12 − 22 + 32 − · · · − 122 = − = −78
2
Sum of a General Arithmetic Series
m
X (a1 + am ) · m
ai = a1 + a2 + a3 + · · · + am =
i=1
2
66
am − a1
To find the number of terms: m = +1
d
Where d is the common difference.
Example:
8 + 11 + 14 + · · · + 35 =
35 − 8
m= + 1 = 10
3
X (8 + 35) · 10
So = = 43 · 5 = 215
2
Sum of an Infinite Geometric Series
∞
X a1
a1 · (d)n = a1 (1 + d + d2 + · · · ) =
n=0
1−d
Where d is the common ratio with |d| < 1 and a1 is the first term in the series.
Examples:
1 3 3 9
3 + 1 + + ··· = = 2 =
3 1 − 13 3
2
1 4 4 8
4 − 2 + 1 − + ··· = −1
= 3 =
2 1− 2 2
3
Special Cases: Factoring
Sometimes simple factoring can lead to an easier calculation. The following are some examples:
3 + 6 + 9 + · · · + 33 = 3 · (1 + 2 + · · · + 11)

11 · 12
=3
2
= 18 · 11 = 198
11 + 33 + 55 + · · · + 99 = 11 · (1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + 9)
2
1+9
= 11 ·
2
= 11 · 25 = 275
Another important question involving sum of integers are word problems which state something similar to:
The sum of three consecutive odd numbers is 129, what is the largest of the numbers?
In order to solve these problems it is best to know what you are adding. You can represent the sum of
the three odd numbers by: (n − 2) + n + (n + 2) = 129. From this you can see that if you divide the number
by 3, you will get that the middle integer is 43, thus making the largest integer 43 + 2 = 45.
Here is another example problem: The sum of four consecutive even numbers is 140, what is the small-
est?
For this one you can represent the sum by (n − 2) + (n) + (n + 2) + (n + 4) = 140, so dividing the number
by 4 will get you the integer between the second and third even number. So 140 ÷ 4 = 35, so the two middle
integers are 34 and 36, making the smallest integer 32.
So from this we learned that you can divide the sum by the number of consecutive integers you are adding,
and if the number of terms are odd, you get the middle integer, and if the number of terms are even, you
67
get the number between the two middle integers.
The following are some more practice problems concerning the sum of series:
Problem Set 2.2.1
1. 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + · · · + 22 = 3 1 1 1
18. − + − + − ··· =
2 2 6 18
2. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + · · · + 21 = 19. 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + · · · + 23 =
3. 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + · · · + 25 = 4 8 16
20. + + + ··· =
7 49 343
4. The 25th term of 3, 8, 13, 18, · · · : 21. 1 + 4 + 7 + · · · + 25 =
8 16 1 1
5. 6 + 4 + + + ··· = 22. 4 + 1 + + + ··· =
3 9 4 16
6. 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + · · · + 30 = 2 2
23. 2 + + + ··· =
5 25
7. 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + · · · + 19 = 24. 3 + 9 + 15 + 21 + · · · + 33 =
3 3 3
8. − + − ··· = 25. 7 + 14 + 21 + 28 + · · · + 77 =
5 10 20
9. The 20th term of 1, 6, 11, 16, · · · : 26. The 11th term in the arithmetic sequence
12, 9.5, 7, 4.5 · · · is:
10. 22 + 20 + 18 + 16 + · · · + 2 =
27. 4 + 8 + 12 + · · · + 44 =
11. 1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + 17 =
28. 8 + 16 + 24 + 32 + · · · + 88 =
12. 2 + 4 + 6 + · · · + 44 =
29. 51 − 50 + 5−1 − 5−2 + · · · =
1 1 1
13. 1 + + + + ··· = 30. (x)+(x+2)+(x+4) = 147, then (x)+(x+4) =
3 9 27
14. 13 + 23 + 33 + · · · + 63 = 31. 6 + 12 + 18 + 24 + · · · + 36 =
15. 6 + 12 + 18 + · · · + 66 = 32. 3 + 8 + 13 + 18 + · · · + 43 =
16. 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + · · · + 31 = 33. 12 + 22 + 32 + 42 + 52 + 62 =
1 1 1 1
17. 2 + 1 + + + ··· = 34. 5 + 1 + + + ··· =
2 4 5 25
68
2 1 3 9 52. 88 + 80 + 72 + · · · + 8 =
35. + + + + ··· =
3 2 8 32
36. 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + · · · + 31 = 53. The sum of 3 consecutive odd integers is 105.

The largest integer:
37. 7 + 14 + 21 + 28 + 35 + 42 =
54. 41 − 40 + 4−1 − 4−2 + · · · =
38. 8 + 10 + 12 + · · · + 20 =
55. (*) (1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + 29)2 =
39. 10 + 15 + 20 + 25 + · · · 105 = 56. (*) 13 + 23 + 33 + · · · + 113 =
40. 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 + · · · = 1 2 3 4
57. + + + ··· + 1 + 2 =
5 5 5 5
41. 4 + 8 + 12 + 16 + · · · + 44 = 58. (63 + 43 + 23 ) − (53 + 33 + 13 ) =
42. (*) 13 + 23 + 33 + · · · + 63 = 1 1 1
59. 3 − 1 − − − − ··· =
3 9 27
43. 6 + 12 + 18 + 24 + · · · + 66 = 1 2 1 1
60. + + 1 + 1 + ··· + 2 =
3 3 3 3
44. 2 + 6 + 10 + · · · + 42 = 61. 33 − 43 − 23 + 53 =
45. 13 − 23 + 33 − 43 + 53 = 1 1
62. 6 − 1 − − − ··· =
6 36
1 3
46. 3 + 1 + + · · · = 63. 2 + 5 + 8 + · · · + 20 =
2 4
47. 14 + 28 + 42 + 56 + 70 + 84 = 64. (*) 13 + 23 + 33 + · · · + 133 =
3 9 27
48. 121 + 110 + 99 + · · · + 11 = 65. + + + ··· =
4 16 64
49. 2 + 9 + 16 + 23 + · · · + 44 = 1 3 5 15
66. + + + ··· + =
4 4 4 4
50. 13 + 26 + 39 + 52 + 65 + 78 = 67. (*) (3 + 6 + 9 + · · · + 30)2 =
51. 36 + 32 + 28 + · · · + 12 = 68. (*) 13 + 23 + 33 + · · · + 83 =
2.2.2 Fibonacci Numbers

It would be best to have the Fibonacci numbers memorized up to F15 because they crop up every now
and then on the number sense test. In case you are unaware, the fibonacci sequence follows the recursive
relationship of Fn = Fn−1 + Fn−2 . The following is a helpful table:
69
F1 = 1 F2 = 1 F3 = 2 F4 = 3
F5 = 5 F6 = 8 F7 = 13 F8 = 21
F9 = 34 F10 = 55 F11 = 89 F12 = 144
F13 = 233 F14 = 377 F15 = 610

The most helpful formula to memorize concerning Fibonacci Numbers is the the sum of the first n Fibonacci
Numbers is equal to Fn+2 − 1.
A common problem asked on the latter parts of the number sense test is:
Find the sum of the first eight terms of the Fibonacci sequence 2, 5, 7, 12, 19, . . ..
Now there are two methods of approach for doing this. The first requires knowledge of large Fibonacci
numbers:
Method 1:
The sum of a the first n-terms of a general Fibonacci sequence a, b, a + b, a + 2b, 2a + 3b, . . . is
X
= a · (Fn+2 − 1) + d · (Fn+1 − 1) . Where d = (b − a)
So for our example:
X
= 2 · (F10 − 1) + (5 − 2) · (F9 − 1) = 2 · 54 + 3 · 33 = 108 + 99 = 207
Method 2:
The other method of doing this sum requires memorization of knowing a formula for each particular sum.
The following is a list of the sums of a general Fibonacci sequence a, b, a + b, a + 2b, 2a + 3b, . . . for 1-12 terms
(the number of terms which have been on the exam):
70
n Fibonacci Number Sum of First Fn Numbers Formula
1 a a a = F1
2 b a+b a + b = F3
3 a+b 2a + 2b 2(a + b) = 2 · F3
4 a + 2b 3a + 4b 4(a + b) − a = 4 · F3 − a
5 2a + 3b 5a + 7b 7(a + b) − 2a = 7 · F3 − 2a
6 3a + 5b 8a + 12b 4(2a + 3b) = 4 · F5
7 5a + 8b 13a + 20b 4(3a + 5b) + a = 4 · F6 + a
8 8a + 13b 21a + 33b 7(3a + 5b) − 2b = 7 · F6 − 2b
9 13a + 21b 34a + 54b 7(5a + 8b) − (a + 2b) = 7 · F7 − F4
10 21a + 34b 55a + 88b 11(5a + 8b) = 11 · F7
11 34a + 55b 89a + 143b 11(8a + 13b) + a = 11 · F8 + a
12 55a + 89b 144a + 232b 18(8a + 13b) − b = 18 · F8 − b
So in our case, we are summing the first 8 terms, which is just 7 · F6 − 2b, where F6 represents the sixth term
in the sequence of 2, 5, 7, 12, 19, . . . (which is 31), so 7 · 31 − 2 · 5 = 217 − 10 = 207.
So in solving it this way you have to calculate what the 6th term in the sequence as well as knowing
the formula. Usually it will be required to calculate a middle term in the sequence, and then apply the
formula.
These type of questions are usually computationally intense, so it is recommended to skip them and come
back to work on them after the completion of all other problems. The following are some more practice
problems:
Problem Set 2.2.2
1. The sum of the first 11 terms of the 5. The sum of the first 11 terms of the
Fibonacci Sequence 2, 4, 6, 10, 16, 26, . . .: Fibonacci Sequence 1, 5, 6, 11, 17, 28, . . .:
Fibonacci Sequence 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, . . .: Fibonacci Sequence 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, . . .:
Fibonacci Sequence 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, . . .: Fibonacci Sequence 2, 5, 7, 12, 19, 31, . . .:
Fibonacci Sequence 4, 5, 9, 14, 23, . . .: Fibonacci Sequence 3, 8, 11, 19, . . .:
71
Fibonacci Sequence 2, 4, 6, 10, 16, . . .: Fibonacci Sequence −3, 2, −1, 1, 0, . . .:
Fibonacci Sequence 1, 5, 6, 11, 17, . . .: Fibonacci Sequence1, 3, 4, 7, 11, . . .:
11. The sum of the first 9 terms of the 16. 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 5 + 8 + · · · + 55 =

Fibonacci Sequence 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, . . .:
17. 1 + 3 + 4 + 7 + 11 + 18 + · · · + 123 =
12. The sum of the first 9 terms of the
Fibonacci Sequence −3, 4, 1, 5, 6, . . .:
18. 3 + 6 + 9 + 15 + 24 + · · · + 267 =
13. The sum of the first 9 terms of the
Fibonacci Sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, . . .: 19. 4 + 6 + 10 + 16 + 26 + · · · + 288 =
2.2.3 Integral Divisors

The following are formulas dealing with integral divisors. On all the formulas, it is necessary to prime fac-
torize the number of interest such that: n = pe11 · pe22 · pe33 · · · penn .
Number of Prime Integral Divisors

Number of prime integral divisors can be found by simply prime factorizing the number, and count how
many distinct prime numbers (p1 , p2 , . . .) you have in it’s representation.
Example:
Find the number of prime integral divisors of 120.
120 = 23 · 3 · 5 ⇒ # of prime divisors = (1 + 1 + 1) = 3
Number of Integral Divisors

Number of Integral Divisors = (e1 + 1) · (e2 + 1) · (e3 + 1) · · · (en + 1)
Example:
Find the number of integral divisors of 48.
48 = 24 · 31 ⇒ (4 + 1) · (1 + 1) = 10
Sum of the Integral Divisors
pe11 +1 − 1 pe22 +1 − 1 pen +1 − 1

··· n
P
= ·
p1 − 1 p2 − 1 pn − 1
Example:
Find the sum of the integral divisors of 36.
36 = 22 · 32
P 23 − 1 33 − 1 7 26
= · = · = 7 · 13 = 91
2−1 3−1 1 2
Number of Relatively Prime Integers less than n
Number of Relatively Prime = (p1 − 1) · (p2 − 1) · · · (pn − 1) · (p1e1 −1 ) · (pe22 −1 ) · · · (pnen −1 )
or
72
p1 − 1 p2 − 1 pn − 1
Number of Relatively Prime = · ··· ×n
p1 p2 pn
Both techniques are relatively (no pun intended) quick and you should do whichever you feel comfort-
able with. Here is an example to display both method:
Example:
Find the number of relatively prime integers less than 20.
20 = 22 · 5
# of Relatively Prime Integers = (2 − 1) · (5 − 1) · (22−1 ) · (51−1 ) = 4 · 2 = 8
or
1 4
# of Relatively Prime Integers = · × 20 = 8
2 5
Sum of Relatively Prime Integers less than n
P n
= (# of Relatively Prime Integers) ×
2
Example:
Find the sum of the relatively prime integers less than 24.
24 = 23 · 3
1 2
# of Relatively Prime Integers = · × 24 = 8
2 3
P 24
=8× = 8 · 12 = 96
2
We should introduce a distinction between proper and improper integral divisors here. A proper integral
divisor is any positive integral divisor of the number excluding the number itself. So for example, the num-
ber 14 has 4 total integral divisors (1, 2, 7, 14), but only 3 proper integral divisors (1, 2, 7). Some number
sense questions will ask for the sum of proper integral divisors or the number of proper integral divisors of
number. When those are asked, you need to be aware to exclude the number itself from those calculations.
For example, the sum of the proper integral divisors of 22 = 3 × 12 − 22 = 36 − 22 = 14.
In addition, on the questions asking for the number of co-prime (or relatively prime) within a range of values,
it is best to calculate the total number of relatively prime integers and then start excluding ones that are out
of range. For example, to calculate the number of integers greater than 3 which are co-prime to 20 you would
find the number of co-prime integers less than 20 which is (2 − 1)(5 − 1)(2(2−1) )(51−1 ) = 8 then you can
exclude the numbers 1 and 3. So the number of integers greater than three which are co-prime to 20 would
be 8−2 = 6. The quickest way of finding whether or not an integer is co-prime to another integer, is to put it
3
in fraction form and see if the fraction is reducible. For example, 3 is co-prime to 20 because is irreducible.
20
With integral divisor problems it is best to get a lot of practice so that better efficiency can be reached. The
following are some sample practice problems:
Problem Set 2.2.3
1. 30 has how many positive 2. 36 has how many positive

prime integral divisors: integral divisors:
73
3. The sum of the positive 18. The number of positive integral
integral divisors of 42 is: divisors of 65 × 43 × 21 :
4. The number of prime factors of 210 is: 19. The sum of the positive
integral divisors of 20 is:
5. The number of positive

integral divisors of 80 is: 20. The number of positive integral
divisors of 24 is:

21. The sum of the positive
integral divisors of 24 × 5 is:
7. The sum of the distinct prime

22. The number of positive integral
factors of 75 total:
divisors of 23 × 34 × 45 :
8. The number of positive 23. The number of positive integral

integral divisors of 96 is: divisors of 64 is:
9. The number of positive 24. The sum of the proper positive

integral divisors of 100 is: integral divisors of 36 is:
10. The sum of the positive 25. The number of positive integral
integral divisors 48 is: divisors of 24 × 36 × 510 is:
11. The sum of the proper positive 26. The number of positive integral
integral divisors of 24 is: divisors of 53 × 32 × 21 :
12. The sum of the positive 27. How many positive integers less than
integral divisors of 28 is: 90 are relatively prime to 90:
28. Sum of the proper positive

integral divisors of 61 × 32 × 23 :
29. The sum of the positive integers less than 18

14. The sum of the proper positive
that are relatively prime to 18:
30. The number of positive integral

15. How many positive integral divisors of 12 × 33 × 24 :
divisors does 81 have:
31. How many positive integers less than

16. How many positive integral 16 × 25 are relatively prime to
divisors does 144 have: 16 × 25:
17. The sum of the positive 32. How many integers between
integral divisors 3 × 5 × 7 is: 30 and 3 are relatively prime to 30:
74
33. How many positive integer less than 35. The number of positive
9 × 8 are relatively prime to 9 × 8: integral divisors of 50 × 54 × 23 :
34. How many integers between 36. The sum of the positive
1 and 20 are relatively prime to 20: integral divisors of 48:
2.2.4 Number of Diagonals of a Polygon

The formula for the number of diagonals in a polygon is derived by noticing that from each of the n vertices
in an n-gon, you can draw (n − 3) diagonals creating n · (n − 3) diagonals, however each diagonal would be
drawn twice, so the total number of diagonals is:
n · (n − 3)
# of Diagonals =
2
As an example lets look at the number of diagonals in a hexagon:
6·3
# of Diagonals in a Hexagon = =9
2
Here are some problems for you to practice this formula:
Problem Set 2.2.4
1. The number of diagonals a 5. An octagon has how many diagonals:

5-sided regular polygon has:
2. If a regular polygon has 27 distinct 6. A decagon has how many diagonals:

diagonals, then it has how many sides:
7. A rectangle has how many diagonals:

3. A pentagon has how many diagonals:
4. A nonagon has how many diagonals: 8. A septagon has how many diagonals:
2.2.5 Exterior/Interior Angles

When finding the exterior, interior, or the sum of exterior or interior angles of a regular n-gon, you can use
the following formulas:
Sum of Exterior Angles: 360◦
360◦
Exterior Angle:
n
360◦ 180◦ (n − 2)
Interior Angle: 180◦ − =
n n
180◦ (n − 2)
Sum of Interior Angles: n· = 180(n − 2)
n
75
If you were to only remember one of the above formulas, let it be that the sum of the exterior angles of every
regular polygon be equal to 360. From there you can derive the rest relatively swiftly (although it is highly
recommended that you have all formulas memorized).
Example: PFind the sum of the interior angles of an octagon.

Solution: = 180(8 − 2) = 1080.
In order to find the interior angle from the exterior angle, you used the fact that they are supplements. Both
supplements and complements of angles appear on the number sense test every now and then, so here are
their definitions:
Complement of θ = 90◦ − θ
Supplement of θ = 180◦ − θ
Here are some practice problems on both exterior/interior angles as well as supplement/complement:
Problem Set 2.2.5
1. A regular nonagon has 5. The measure of an interior

an interior angle of: angle of a regular hexagon measures:
2. An interior angle of a 6. The sum of the angles

regular pentagon has a measure of: in a regular decagon is:
3. The supplement of an interior 7. The supplement of a 47◦ angle is:

angle of a regular octagon measures:
8. The sum of the interior

4. The angles in a regular octagon total: angles of a regular pentagon is:
2.2.6 Triangular, Pentagonal, etc... Numbers

We are all familiar with the concept of square numbers 1, 4, 9, 16, . . . , n2 and have a vague idea of how they
can be viewed geometrically (n2 can be represented by n rows of dots by n columns of dots). This same
concept of translating “dots to numbers” can extend to any regular polygon. For example, the idea of a
triangular number is the amount of dots which can be arranged into an equilateral triangle (1, 3, 6, . . .). The
following are formulas for these “geometric” numbers:
n(n + 1) n(5n − 3)
Triangular: Tn = Heptagonal: En =
2 2
n(2n − 0) n(6n − 4)
Square: Sn =
2 Octagonal: On =
2
= n2
n[(M − 2)n − (M − 4)]
M-Gonal: Mn =
n(3n − 1) 2
Pentagonal: Pn =
2
n(4n − 2)
Hexagonal: Hn =
2
76
As one can see, only the last formula is necessary for memorization (all the others can be derived from that
one).
Some other useful formulas:
Sum of Consecutive Triangular Numbers: Tn−1 + Tn = n2

m
X m(m + 1)(m + 2)
Sum of First m Triangular Numbers: Tn = T1 + T2 + · · · + Tm =
n=1
6
Sum of the Same Triangular and Pentagonal Numbers: Tn + Pn = 2n2
Examples:
1. The 6th Triangular Number? 6(6 + 1)

= 21
2
4(6 · 4 − 4) 4 · 20
2. The 4th Octagonal Number? = = 40
2 2
5(3 · 5 − 1) 5 · 14
3. The 5th Pentagonal Number? = = 35
2 2
72 = 49
4. The Sum of the 6th and 7th Triangular Num-
bers?
Problem Set 2.2.6
1. The 7th pentagonal number: 9. The 5th hexagonal number is:
2. The 4th octagonal number:

10. The 11th triangular number is:
3. The 5th pentagonal number:

11. The 12th triangular number is:
4. The 8th octagonal number:
12. The 6th hexagonal number is:

5. The 12th hexagonal number:
6. The 7th septagonal number is: 13. The sum of the 5th triangular
and the 6th triangular numbers:
7. The 5th pentagonal number is:
14. The sum of the 3rd triangular
th
8. The 6 pentagonal number is: and the 3rd pentagonal numbers:
2.2.7 Finding Sides of a Triangle

A popular triangle question gives two sides of a triangle and asks for the minimum/maximum value for the
other side conforming to the restriction that the triangle is right, acute or obtuse. The two sets of formulas
which will aid in solving these questions are:
77
Triangle Inequality: a + b > c
Right Triangle: a2 + b2 = c2
Variations on the Pythagorean Theorem: Acute Triangle: a2 + b2 > c2
Obtuse Triangle: a2 + b2 < c2
If you don’t have the Pythagorean relationships for acute/obtuse triangle memorized, the easiest way to
think about the relationship on the fly is remembering that an equilateral triangle is acute so a2 + a2 > a2 .
Let’s look at some examples:
An acute triangle has integer sides of 4, x,and 9. What is the largest value of x?
Solution: Using the Pythagorean relationship we know: 42 + 92 > x2 or 97 > x2 . Knowing this and the
fact that x is an integer, we know that the largest value of x is 9.
An acute triangle has integer sides of 4, x,and 9. What is the smallest value of x?
Solution: For this we use the triangle inequality. We want 9 to be the largest side (so x would have to be
less than 9), so apply the inequality knowing this: 4 + x > 9 which leads to the smallest integer value of x
is 6
An obtuse triangle has integer sides of 7, x, and 8. What is the smallest value of x?
Solution: For this, we want the largest value in the obtuse triangle to be 8 then apply the Triangle
Inequality: 7 + x > 8 with x being an integer. This makes the smallest value of x to be 2.
An obtuse triangle has integer sides of 7, x, and 8. What is the largest value of x?
Solution: Here, x is restricted by the Triangle Inequality (if we used the Pythagorean Theorem for obtuse,
we would get an unbounded result for x: 72 + 82 < x2 makes x unbounded). So we know from that equation:
7 + 8 > x so the largest integer value for x is 14.
Another important type of triangle problem involves being given one side of a right triangle and having to
compute the other sides. For example, the sides of a right triangle are integers, one of its sides is 9, what is
the hypotenuse?
Where this gets it’s foundation is from the Pythagorean Theorem which states that a2 + b2 = c2 . If the
smallest side is given (call it a), then we can express a2 = c2 − b2 = (c − b)(c + b). Now is where the trick
comes into play. The goal becomes to find two numbers that when subtracted together from each other
multiplied with them added to each other is the smallest side squared. When the smallest side squared gives
an odd number (in our case 81 is odd), the goal is reduced considerably by thinking of taking consecutive
integers (so c − b = 1) and c + b = a2 . The easiest way to find two consecutive integers whose sum is a third
number is to divide, the third number by 2, and the integers straddle that mixed number. So in our case
92 = 81 ÷ 2 = 40.5 so b = 40 and c = 41, and we’re done. Let’s look at another example:
The sides of a right triangle are integers, one of its sides is 11, what is the other side?
Solution: 112 = 121 which is odd, so 121 ÷ 2 = 60.5 so the other side is 60.
Very seldom do they give you a side who’s square is even. In that case let’s look at the result:
The sides of a right triangle are integers, one of its sides is 10, what is the hypotenuse?
Solution: The easiest way of solving these problems is divide the number they give you by a certain amount
to get an odd number, then perform the usual procedure on that odd number (outlined above), then when
78
you get the results multiply each side by the number you originally divided by. Let’s look at what hap-
pens in our example. So to get an odd number we must divide 10 by 2 to get 5. Now to find the other
side/hypotenuse with smallest side given is 5 you do: 52 ÷ 2 = 12.5 ⇒ b = 12 and c = 13. Now to get the
correct side/hypotenuse lengths, we must multiply by what we originally divided by (2) so b = 12·2 = 24 and
= 13 · 2 = 26. As you can see there are a couple of mores steps to this procedure, and you have to remember
what you divided by at the beginning so you can multiply the side/hypotenuse by that same amount at the
end.
There are some variations to this, say they tell you that the hypotenuse is 61 and ask for the smallest side.
Since half of the smallest side squares is roughly the hypotenuse, you will be looking for squares who are
near 61 · 2 = 122, so you know that s = 11.
In addition, there are some algebraic applications that frequently ask the same thing. For example, if it is
given that x2 − y 2 = 53 and asks you to solve for y. You do the same procedure: (x + y)(x − y) = 53, since
53 is odd, you are concerned with consecutive numbers adding up to 53, so 53÷2 = 26.5 ⇒ x = 27 and y = 26.
Getting practice with these problems are critical so that you can immediately know which formula to apply
and which procedure to follow. Complete the following:
Problem Set 2.2.7
1. An obtuse triangle has integral sides 9. a2 + b2 = 1132 where 0 < a < b

of 3, x, and 7. The largest value for x is: and a, b are integers. Then a =
2. The sides of a right triangle are integers. 10. The sides of a right triangle are √
If one leg is 9 then the other leg is: x, 7, and 11. If x < 7 and x = a 2 then a =
3. x, y are positive integers with 11. An acute triangle has integer sides of
x2 − y 2 = 53. Then y= 2, 7, and x. The largest value of x is:
4. A right triangle with integer sides has

12. An obtuse triangle has integer sides of
a hypotenuse of 113. The smallest leg is:
6,x, and 11. The smallest value of x is:
5. An acute triangle has integer side lengths

13. An acute triangle has integer sides of 7,
of 4, 7, and x. The smallest value for x is:
11, and x. The smallest value of x is:
6. An acute triangle has integer side lengths

of 4, 7, and x. The largest value for x is: 14. An obtuse triangle has integer sides of
8, 15, and x. The smallest value of x is:
7. x,y are integers with

x2 − y2 = −67 then x is: 15. The sides of a right triangle are integral. If
one leg is 13, find the length of the other leg:
8. An obtuse triangle has integer

side lengths of x, 7, and 11. 16. A right triangle has integer side
The smallest value of x is: lengths of 7, x, and 25. Its area is:
79
2.2.8 Equilateral Triangle Formulas
Area of an Equilateral Triangle when knowing the side-length s:
√
s2 · 3
Area =
4
Area of an Equilateral Triangle when knowing the height h:
√
h2 · 3
Area =
3
Finding the height when given the side length s:
√
s· 3
Height =
2
Example:
√
An equilateral triangle’s perimeter is 12. Its area is 4k · 3. What is k?
√
12 42 · 3 √
s= =4⇒A= =4 3⇒k=1
3 4
Example:
An equilateral triangle has a height of 4, what is its side length?

√ √
3·s 4·2 8· 3
h=4= ⇒s= √ =
2 3 3
Here are some practice problems for this formula:
Problem Set 2.2.8
1. The sides
√ of an equilateral triangle 5. The perimeter of an equilateral
√ triangle
are 2 3 cm, then its height is: is 12 cm. Its area is k 3 cm2 . k =
2. The√area of an equilateral triangle 6. Find the perimeter of an√ equilateral

is 9 3cm2 , then its side length is: triangle whose area is 9 3cm2 :
3. If the
√ area of an equilateral triangle 7. The area of √an equilateral
is 3 3ft2 then its side length is: triangle is 3 3in2 . Its height is:
4. The height of an equilateral

√ triangle 8. An equilateral
√ triangle has an
is 12 in. Its area is 4k 3, k = area of 27 3cm2 . Its height is:
2.2.9 Formulas of Solids

Usually basic formulas for spheres, cubes, cones, and cylinders are fair game for the Number Sense test. In
order to solve these problems, memorize the following table:
80
Type of Solid Volume Surface Area
Cube s3 6s2
4 3
Sphere πr 4πr2
3
1 2
Cone πr h πrl + πr2
3
Cylinder πr2 h 2πrh
(In the above formulas, s is the side-length, r is the radius, h is the height, and l is the slant height.)
In addition to knowing the above formulas, a couple of other ones are:

√
Face Diagonal of a Cube = s 2
√
Body Diagonal of a Cube = s 3
Problem Set 2.2.9
1. Find the surface area of a

cube who’s side length is 11 in.:
6. A cube has a surface area of
216 cm2 . The volume of the cube is:
2. Find the surface area of a
sphere who’s radius is 6 in.:
7. If the total surface area of a cube
is 384 cm2 , then the volume of the cube is:
3. If the radius of a sphere is tripled,
then the volume is multiplied by:
8. Find the volume of a cube
4. The total surface area of a with an edge of 12 cm.:
cube with an edge of 4 inches is:
9. A tin can has a diameter of 8 and a
5. A cube has a volume of height of 14. The volume is kπ, k =
512 cm2 . The area of the base is:
2.2.10 Combinations and Permutations

For most, this is just a refresher on the definitions of Combinations (n Ck ) and Permutations (n Pk ):
n!
n Ck =
k! · (n − k)!
n!
n Pk =
(n − k)!
Here is an example:
7! 7·6·5
7 C4 = = = 35
4!(7 − 4)! 3·2
With combinations and permutations (and factorials in general) you want to look at ways of canceling factors
81
from the factorial to ease in calculation. In addition, the following is a list of the factorials which should be
memorized for quick access:
3! = 6 4! = 24 5! = 120 6! = 720
7! = 5040 8! = 40320 9! = 362880 10! = 3628800
Another often tested principle on Combinations is that:
n Ck = n Cn−k
The above will show up in the form of questions like this:
5 C2 = 5 Ck → k = ?
Solution: Using the above formula, you know that k = 5 − 2 = 3.
Another often tested question on Combinations and Permutations is when you divide one by another:
n Ck 1 n Pk
= or = k!
n Pk k! n Ck
Problem Set 2.2.10
1. 5 P3 = 12. 4 P2 ÷ 4 C2 =
2. 5 C3 = 13. 6 P3 ÷ 6 C3 =
3. 6 C3 = 14. 7 P4 ÷ 7 C3 =
4. 7 C4 = 15. 8 C5 ÷ 8 P5 =
5. 7 P4 = 16. 9 P3 ÷ 9 C3 =
6. 6 P2 = 17. 4 P3 ÷ 3 P2 =
7. 8 C6 = 18. 4 C3 × 3 C2 =
8. 5 C2 = 19. 5 P3 × 4 P2 =
9. 8 P3 = 20. 6 C3 ÷ 6 P3 =
10. 8 C3 = 21. 6 C1 + 4 P1 =
11. 9 C2 = 22. (5 C2 )(5 P2 ) =
82
2.2.11 Trigonometric Values
Trigonometry problems have been increasingly popular for writers of the number sense test. Not only are
they testing the basics of sines, cosines, and tangents of special angles (30◦ , 45◦ , 60◦ , 90◦ – and variations in
each quadrant) but also the trigonometric reciprocals (cosecant, secant, and cotangent).
First, let’s look at the special angles in the first quadrant where all values of the trigonometric functions are
positive. In the table, each trigonometric function is paired below with it’s reciprocal:
Trig Function 0◦ 30◦ 45◦ 60◦ 90◦
√ √
1 2 3
sin 0 2 2 2 1
√ √
3·2
csc Undefined 2 2 3 1
√ √
3 2 1
cos 1 2 2 2 0
√
3·2
√
sec 1 3 2 2 Undefined
√
3
√
tan 0 3 1 3 Undefined
√ √
3
cot Undefined 3 1 3 0
All of those can be derived using the memorable “SOHCAHTOA” technique to special right triangles (it is
assume one can do this, so it is omitted in this text. If help is needed, see any elementary geometry book.).
In addition, it is clear that the values at the reciprocal trigonometric function is just the multiplicative
inverse (that’s why they are called reciprocal trigonometric functions!).
Now to find the values of trigonometric functions in any quadrant it is essential to remember two things.
The first is you need to get the sign straight of the values depending on what quadrant you are in. The
following plot and mnemonic device will help with getting the sign correct:
|
Sin | All
II | I
- - - - - -
Tan | Cos
III | IV
The above corresponds to which trigonometric functions (and their reciprocals) are positive in which quad-
rants. Now if you forget this, you can take the first letter of each function in their respected quadrants
and remember the mnemonic device of “All Students Take Calculus” to remember where each function is
positive.
The second challenge to overcome in computing each Trigonometric Function at any angle is to learn how to
reference each angle to its first quadrant angle, so that the chart above could be used. The following chart
will help you find the appropriate reference angle depending on what quadrant you are in. Assume that you
83
are given an angle θ which resides in each of the quadrants mentioned. The following would be it’s reference
angle:
Quadrant I Quadrant II Quadrant III Quadrant IV
Reference Angle: θ 180◦ − θ θ − 180◦ 360◦ − θ

So now we have enough information to compute any trigonometric function at any angle. Let’s look at a
couple of problems:
Problem: sin(210◦ )
Solution: Now you know the angle is in Quadrant-III, so the result will be negative (only cosine is positive
in Q-III). Now to find the reference angle is is just θ − 180◦ = 210◦ − 180◦ = 30◦ . So the sin(30◦ ) from the
table is 21 so the answer is: sin(210◦ ) = − 12 .
Problem: cot(135◦ )
Solution: So the cot/tan function is negative in Q-II. To find the reference angle, it is simply 180◦ − θ =
180◦ − 135◦ = 45◦ . Now the cot(45◦ ) = 1 (from the table) so the answer is: cot(135◦ ) = −1 .
Problem: cos(−30◦ )
Solution: So an angle of −30◦ = 330◦ which is in Q-IV where cosine
√
is positive. Now to find the reference
√
angle you just do 360 − θ = 360 − 330 = 30 , and cos(30 ) = 2 . So the answer is just cos(−30◦ ) = 23 .
◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ 3
It should be noted that all of these problems have been working with degrees. Students should familiarize
themselves with using radians as well using the conversion rate of: π = 180◦ . So an angle (given in radians)
◦
◦
of π6 = 180
6 = 30 .
It is great for all students to practice solving these types of problems. The following are some practice
problems. If more are needed, just consult any elementary geometric textbook or pre-calculus textbook.
Problem Set 2.2.11
π
1. sin(−30◦ ) = 9. = ◦
18
2. cos θ = .375 then sec θ = 10. cos(sec−1 3) =
3. sin(3π) = 5π ◦
11. =
8
4. tan(225◦ ) = π ◦
12. =
5

1
5. sin sin−1 = 13. cos(sin−1 1) =
2
6. sin θ = −.1 then csc θ = 14. tan(−45◦ ) =
11π
7. sin = 15. sin(−π) =
6
8. cos(−5π) = 16. cos(−300◦ ) =
84

17. sin−1 (sin 1) = −4π −5π
37. cos + sin =
3 6
18. csc(−150◦ ) = 38. 2 sin 120◦ cos 30◦ =
19. sec(120◦ ) = 39. cos(240◦ ) − sin(150◦ ) =
√ !
20. tan(−225◦ ) = 3
40. sin cos−1 =
2
3π ◦
21. = 41. sin(cos−1 1) =
5
22. tan(−45◦ ) = 42. If csc θ = −3, where 270◦ < θ < 300◦ , then
sin θ =
23. tan(315◦ ) =
−7π −2π
43. sin − cos =
6 3
◦ ◦
24. If 0 < x < 90 and tan x = cot x, x =
44. sec θ = −3, θ is in QIII, then cos θ =
25. 280◦ = kπ then k =
5π 2π
45. cos × sin =
6 3
5π
26. tan = 3π 5π
4 46. sin × cos =
4 4
27. cos θ = .08333 . . . then sec θ =
47. sin 30◦ + cos 60◦ = tan x
0◦ ≤ x ≤ 90◦ , x =
28. sin(5π) + cos(5π) =
√ !
−1 3
48. cos sin =
29. sec(60◦ ) = 2

π −π π
◦
30. 12 = , k = 49. sin × sin =
k 3 3
31. cos θ = −.25 then sec θ = 50. cos(120◦ ) × cos(120◦ ) =
51. 216◦ = kπ, k =

32. tan2 60◦ =

−2π 4π
33. 1.25π = ◦ 52. cos × cos =
3 3
53. tan(30◦ ) × cot(60◦ ) =

34. cot2 60◦ =

√ !# −π π
54. cos × cos =
"
2 3 3
35. sin cos−1 =
2
π π π
55. sin + cos = tan
6 3 k
36. cos(−3π) − sin(−3π) = then k =
85

56. cos−1 .8 + cos−1 .6 = kπ then k = −π π
58. sin × cos =
6 3
57. sin(300◦ ) × cos(330◦ ) = 59. 630◦ = kπ, k =
2.2.12 Trigonometric Formulas

Recently, questions involving trigonometric functions have encompassed some basic trigonometric identities.
The most popular ones tested are included here:
The Fundamental Identities
sin2 + cos2 = 1
1 + cot2 = csc2
tan2 +1 = sec2
Sum to Difference Formulas
sin(a ± b) = sin(a) cos(b) ± sin(b) cos(a)

cos(a ± b) = cos(a)cos(b) ∓ sin(a) sin(b)
Double Angle Formulas
sin(2a) = 2 sin(a) cos(a)

cos(2a) = cos2 (a) − sin2 (a) with variants:
cos(2a) = 1 − 2 sin2 (a)
cos(2a) = 2 cos2 (a) − 1
Sine → Cosine
sin(90◦ − θ) = cos(θ)
Most of the time, using trigonometric identities will not only aid in speed but will also be necessary. Take
for example:
sin(10◦ ) cos(20◦ ) + sin(20◦ ) cos(10◦ )
Without using the sum to difference formula, this would be impossible to calculate, however after using the
formula you get:
1
sin(10◦ ) cos(20◦ ) + sin(20◦ ) cos(10◦ ) = sin(10◦ + 20◦ ) = sin(30◦ ) =
2
The following are some practice problems using these identities:
Problem Set 2.2.12
1. cos2 30◦ + sin2 30◦ =
3. 2 sin 15◦ cos 15◦ =

2 ◦ 2 ◦
2. cos 30 − sin 30 =
86
4. 2 sin 30◦ sin 30◦ − 1 = 16. 2 sin 15◦ sin 75◦ =
π π π π
5. 1 − sin2 30◦ = 17. (sin − cos )(sin + cos ) =
3 3 3 3
6. cos 22◦ = sin θ, 0◦ < θ < 90◦ , θ = 3

18. If sin(A) = , then cos(2A) =
5
π π π
7. [2 sin cos ]2 = 19. 1 − 2 sin2 =
3 3 6
8. 2 sin 15◦ cos 15◦ − 1 = 20. cos 75◦ sin 75◦ =
9. 3 csc2 45◦ − 3 cot2 45◦ = 21. sin 15◦ cos 45◦ − sin 45◦ cos 15◦ =
10. cos2 30◦ − sin2 30◦ = 22. 2 − 4 sin2 30◦ =
11. sin 105◦ cos 105◦ = 23. cos 95◦ cos 25◦ − sin 95◦ sin 25◦ =
π π
12. sin 38◦ = cos θ, 270◦ < θ < 360◦ , θ = 24. sin + cos =
6 3
13. sin 30◦ cos 60◦ − sin 60◦ cos 30◦ = 25. cos 15◦ sin 45◦ − cos 45◦ sin 15◦ =
π π π π π
14. 2 cos2 −1= 26. (sin − cos )(sin + cos ) =
6 6 6 6 6
15. (1 − sin 60◦ )(1 + sin 60◦ ) = 27. 2 tan2 θ − 2 sec2 θ =
2.2.13 Graphs of Sines/Cosines

Popular questions for the last column involve determining amplitudes, periods, phase shifts, and vertical
shifts for plots of sines/cosines. If you haven’t been introduced this in a pre-calculus class, use the following
as a rough primer:
The general equation for any sine/cosine plot is:
y = A sin[B(x − C)] + D
Amplitude: |A|
2π
Period:
B
Phase Shift: C
Vertical Shift: D (Up if > 0, Down if < 0)
Example: Find the period of y = 3 sin(πx − 2) + 8.
Solution: We need the coefficient in front of x to be 1, so we need to factor out π, making the graph:
87
y = 3 sin[π(x − π2 )] + 8. Now we can apply the above table to see that the period= 2π π = 2. The other
characteristics of the graph is that the amplitude= 3, the phase shift= π2 , and it is vertically shifted by 8 units.
Here are some more practice problems:
Problem Set 2.2.13
1. What is the amplitude of y = 4 cos(2x) + 1: 7. The amplitude of y = 2 − 5 cos[4(x − 3)] is:
2. The graph of y = 2 − 3 cos[2(x − 5)] 8. The vertical displacement of

has a horizontal displacement of: y = 5 cos[4(x + 3)] − 2 is:
3. The graph of y = 2 − 2 cos[3(x − 5)] π

9. The phase shift of f (x) = 2 sin(3x − )
has a vertical shift of: 2
is kπ, k =
4. What is the amplitude of y = 2−3 cos[4(x+5)]:

10. The period of y = 2 − 3 cos(4πx + 2π) is:

1 x
5. The period of y = 5 cos (x + 3π) + 2 11. The period of y = 2 + 3 sin( ) is:
4 5
is kπ, k =
12. The graph of y = 1 − 2 cos(3x + 4)
6. The phase shift of y = 5 cos[4(x + 3)] − 2 is: has an amplitude of:
2.2.14 Vertex of a Parabola

This question was much more popular on tests from the 90’s, but it is being resurrected on some of the more
recent tests. When approached with a parabola in the form of f (x) = Ax2 + Bx + x, the coordinate of the
vertex is:

−B −B
(h, k) = ,f .
2A 2A
Example: Find the y-coordinate of the vertex of the parabola who’s equation is y = 3x2 − 12x + 16.
−(−12)
Solution: x = = 2 ⇒ y = 3 · 22 − 12 · 2 + 16 = 4.
2·3
It should be noted that if the parabola is in the form x = ay 2 + by + c, then the vertex is:

−b −b
(h, k) = f , . (Due to a rotation of axis).
2a 2a
Problem Set 2.2.14
88
1. The vertex of the parabola
y = 2x2 + 8x − 1 is (h, k), k =
3. If g(x) = 2 − x − x2 , then
the axis of symmetry is x =
2. The vertex of y = x2 − 2x − 4 is (h, k), k =
2.2.15 Discriminant and Roots

A very popular question is, when given a quadratic equation, determining the value of an undefine coefficient
so that the roots are distinct/equal/complex. Take the following question:
Find the value for k such that the quadratic 3x2 − x − 2k = 0 has equal roots.
Well we know from the quadratic equation that the roots of a general polynomial ax2 + bx + c = 0 can be
determined from:
√
−b ± b2 − 4ac
r1,2 =
2a
So we know from this that:
Distinct Roots: b2 − 4ac > 0
Equal Roots: b2 − 4ac = 0
Complex Conjugate Roots: b2 − 4ac < 0
So in our case we need to find the value of k such that the discriminant (b2 − 4ac) is equal to zero.
−1 −1
b2 − 4ac = 12 − 4 · 3 · (−2k) = 0 ⇒ k = =
4·3·2 24
The following are some more practice problems:
Problem Set 2.2.15
1. For 2x2 − 4x − k = 0 to have 2 equal 4. The discriminant of 2x2 − 3x = 1 is:

roots, the smallest value of k is:
5. For what value of k does

2. For 3x2 − x − 2k = 0 to
3x2 + 4x + k = 0 have equal roots:
have equal roots k has to be:
3. For 3x2 − 2x + 1 − k = 0 to 6. For x2 − 2x − 3k = 0 to have

have equal roots, k has to be: one real solution k has to be:
89
3 Miscellaneous Topics
3.1 Random Assortment of Problems
3.1.1 GCD and LCM
How finding the Greatest Common Divisor (or GCD) is taught in classes usually involves prime factorizing
the two numbers and then comparing powers of exponents. However, this is not the most efficient way of
doing it during a number sense competition. One of the quickest way of doing it is by employing Euclid’s
Algorithm who’s method won’t be proven here (if explanation is necessary, just Google to find the proof).
The following outlines the procedure:
1. Arrange the numbers so that n1 < n2 then find the remainder when n2 is divided by n1 and call it r1 .
2. Now divide n1 by r1 and get a remainder of r2 .
3. Continue the procedure until any of the remainders are 0 and the number you are dividing by is the
GCD or when you notice what the GCD of any pair of numbers is.
Let’s illustrate with some examples:
Problem: GCD(36, 60)
Solution: Well, when 60 is divided by 36 it leaves a remainder of 24. So, GCD(36, 60) =GCD(24, 36). Con-
tinuing the procedure, when 36 is divided by 24 it leaves a remainder of 12. So, GCD(36, 60) =GCD(24, 36) =GCD(12, 24),
which from here you can tell the GCD is 12. You could also have stopped after the first step when you
notice that the GCD(24, 36) is 12, and you wouldn’t have to continue the procedure.
Problem: GCD(108, 140)
Solution: GCD(108, 140) → GCD(32, 108) → GCD(12, 32) → GCD(8, 12) → GCD(4, 8) = 4
If at any point in that process you notice what the GCD of the two numbers is by observation, you can cut
down on the amount of steps in computation.
For computing the LCM between two numbers a and b, I use the formula:
a×b
LCM(a, b) =
GCD(a, b)
So to find what the LCM is, we must first compute the GCD. Using a prior example, let’s calculate the
LCM(36, 60):
36 × 60
LCM(36, 60) = = 3 × 60 = 180
12
The procedure is simple enough, let’s do one more example.
Problem: Find the LCM of 44 and 84.

44 × 84
Solution: GCD(44, 84) =GCD(40, 44) =GCD(4, 40) = 4 ⇒ LCM(44, 84) = = 11 × 84 = 924
4
It should be noted that there are some questions concerning the GCD of more than two numbers (usually
not ever more than three). The following outlines the procedure which should be followed:
1. Find the GCD of two of the numbers.

2. Find the LCM of those two numbers by using the GCD and the above formula.
90
3. Calculate the GCD of the LCM of those two numbers and the third number.
It should be noted that usually one of the numbers is a multiple of another, thus leaving less required cal-
culations (because the LCM between two numbers which are multiples of each other is just the larger of the
two numbers).
The following are some more practice problems for finding GCDs and LCMs using this method:
Problem Set 3.1.1
1. The GCF of 35 and 63 is: 17. The LCM of 23 × 32 and 22 × 33 is:
2. The LCM of 64 and 20 is: 18. The LCM of 28 and 42 is:
4. The GCF of 48 and 72 is: 20. The LCM of 84 and 70 is:
5. The GCD of 27 and 36 is: 21. The GCF of 132 and 187 is:
7. The GCD of 132 and 156 is: 23. The GCF of 51, 68, and 85 is:
24. The GCF(24, 44) − LCM(24, 44) =

8. The LCM of 57 and 95 is:
25. The LCM of 16, 20,and 32 is:

9. The GCD of 52 and 91 is:
26. The GCD(15, 28) times LCM(15, 28) is:




30. The GCD(15, 21) + LCM(15, 21) =

31. The GCF of 44, 66,and 88 is:

32. The product of the

16. The LCM of 51 and 34 is: GCF and LCM of 21 and 33 is:
91
33. The LCM of 16, 32,and 48 is: 38. The GCD(16, 20) − LCM(16, 20) =
34. The GCD(18, 33) + LCM(18, 33) = 39. The GCF of 42, 28,and 56 is:
40. The product of the

GCF and LCM of 24 and 30 is:
36. The LCM(21, 84)-GCF(21, 84) = 41. The LCM of 36, 24 and 20 is:
37. The LCM of 24, 36,and 48 is: 42. The LCM of 28, 42,and 56 is:
3.1.2 Perfect, Abundant, and Deficient Numbers

For this section let’s begin with the definitions of each type.
A perfect number has the sum of the proper divisors equal to itself. The first three perfect numbers are
6 (1 + 2 + 3 = 6), 28 (1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28), and 496 (1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248 = 496).
Notice that there are really only two perfect numbers that would be reasonable to test on a number sense
test (6 and 28 should be memorized as being perfect).
An abundant number has the sum of the proper divisors greater than itself. Examples of an abundant
number is 12 (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 = 16 > 12) and 18 (1 + 2 + 3 + 6 + 9 = 21 > 18). An interesting property of
abundant numbers is that any multiple of a perfect or abundant number is abundant. Knowing this is very
beneficial to the number sense test.
As you can assume through the process of elimination, a deficient number has the sum of the proper
divisors less than itself. Examples of these include any prime number (because they have only one proper
divisor which is 1), 10 (1 + 2 + 5 = 8 < 10), and 14 (1 + 2 + 7 = 10 < 14) just to name a few. An interesting
property is that any power of a prime is deficient (this is often tested on the number sense test).
3.1.3 Sum and Product of Coefficients in Binomial Expansion

From the binomial expansion we know that:
n
X n
(ax + by)n = (ax)n−k (by)k
k
k=0

n n n n n−1 1 n−1 1 n n n
= a ·x + a b ·x y + ··· b y
0 1 n
From here we can see that the sum of the coefficients of the expansion is:
n
X n
an−k bk
k
k=0
Where we can retrieve these sums by setting x = 1 and y = 1 ⇒ Sum of the Coefficients = (a + b)n !
Here is an example to clear things up:
92
Problem: Find the Sum of the Coefficients of (x + y)6 .
Solution: Let x = 1 and y = 1 which leads to the Sum of the Coefficients = (1 + 1)6 = 64.
An interesting side note on this is when asked to find the Sum of the Coefficients of (x − y)n it will always
be 0 because by letting x = 1 and y = 1 you get the Sum of the Coefficients = (1 − 1)n = 0.
As for the product of the coefficients, there are no easy way to compute them. The best method is to
memorize some of the first entries of the Pascal triangle (if you’re unfamiliar with how Pascal’s triangle
relates to the coefficients of expansion, I suggest Googling it):
11
121
1331
14641
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
Here are some more practice to get acquainted with both the sum and product of coefficients:
Problem Set 3.1.3
1. The sum of the coefficients 8. The sum of the coefficients

in the expansion of (5x − 9y)3 is: in the expansion of (a − b)4 is:
2. The sum of the coefficients 9. The sum of the coefficients

in the expansion of (5x + 7y)3 is: in the expansion of (3x − y)4 is:
3. The sum of the coefficients 10. The product of all the coefficients
in the expansion of (x − y)3 is: in the expansion (x + y)4 is:
4. The sum of the coefficients 11. The product of the coefficients

in the expansion of (a + b)3 is: in the expansion of (2a + 2b)2 is:

in the expansion of (x + y)6 is: in the expansion of (a + b)3 is:

in the expansion of (x + y)2 is: in the expansion of (a − b)4 is:

in the expansion of (a + b)5 is: in the expansion of (3a + 3b)2 is:
93
15. The product of the coefficients
in the expansion of (a + b)5 is:
18. The sum of the coefficients
in the expansion of (x2 − 6x + 9)2 is:
in the expansion of (a − b)2 is:
17. The product of the coefficients in the expansion of (4x + 5)2 is:
in the expansion of (4a − 3b)2 is:
3.1.4 Sum/Product of the Roots

Define a polynomial by pn (x) = an xn + an−1 xn−1 + an−2 xn−2 · · · a1 x1 + a0 = 0. The three most popular
questions associated with the number sense test concerning roots of polynomials are: sum of the roots, sum
of the roots taken two at a time, and product of the roots. For the polynomial pn (x) these values are defined:
−an−1
Sum of the roots:
an
an−2
Sum of the roots taken two at a time:
an
a0
Product of the roots: If n is even
an
−a0
If n is odd
an
Let’s see what this means for our generic quadratics/cubics:
p2 (x) = ax2 + bx + c = 0 and p3 (x) = ax3 + bx2 + cx = 0
−b
Sum of the roots:
a
p2 (x) = ax2 + bx + c = 0 c
Product of the roots:
a
−b
Sum of the roots:
a
c
Product of the roots taken two at a time:
p3 (x) = ax3 + bx2 + cx = 0 a
−d
Product of the roots:
a
Since the quadratic only has two roots, the sum of the roots taken two at a time happens to be the product of
the roots. You can extend the same procedure for polynomials of any degree, keeping in mind the alternating
signs for the product of the roots. The following are practice problems:
Problem Set 3.1.4
94
1. The sum of the roots of 14. The sum of the roots of
2x2 − 3x + 1 = 0 is: (3x − 2)(2x + 1) = 0 is:
2. The sum of the roots of 15. The sum of the product of the roots taken
(x − 4)(x − 5) = 0 is: two at a time of 2x3 + 4x2 − 6x = 8 is:
3. The sum of the roots of

3x3 − 2x2 + x − 4 = 0 is: 16. The sum of the roots of
2x3 + 4x2 − 3x + 5 = 0 is:
4. The product of the roots of

x2 + 3x = 7 is: 17. The product of the roots of
(2x − 1)(3x + 2)(4x − 3) = 0 is:
x2 − 9 = 0 is: 18. Let R,S,T be the roots of 2x3 + 4x = 5.
Then RS + RT + ST =
4x2 + 3x = 2 is:
19. The equation 2x3 − bx2 + cx = d has
roots r,s,t and rst=3.5, then d =
(2x − 3)2 = 0 is:
3x2 − bx + c = 0 is −12 then b =
5x3 − 8x2 + 2x + 3 = 0 is:
21. If r, s, and t are the roots of the equation
9. The product of the roots of 2x3 − 4x2 + 6x = 8 then rs + rt + st =
4x3 − 3x2 + 2x − 1 = 0 is:
10. The sum of the roots of 4x3 + 3x2 − 2x − 1 = 0 is:
3x3 + 2x2 = 9 is:

11. The sum of the roots of 4x3 − 3x2 + 2x + 1 = 0 is:
x3 − 13x = 12 is:
12. Let R,S,T be the roots of 2x3 + 4x = 5. 24. The sum of the roots of
Then R × S × T = 5x3 + 4x − 3 = 0 is:
13. The product of the roots of 25. The equation 2x3 − bx2 + cx = d has
5x3 + 4x − 3 = 0 is: roots r, s, t. If r + s + t = −2 then b =
3.1.5 Finding Units Digit of xn

This is a common problem on the number sense test which seems considerably difficult, however there is a
shortcut method. Without delving too much into the modular arithmetic required, you can think of this
problem as exploiting patterns. For example, let’s find the units digit of 347 , knowing:
95
31 = 3 Units Digit: 3
From this you can see the units digit repeats every 4th power.
5
So in order to see what is the units digit you can divide the power in question by 4 then see what the
remainder r is. And in order to find the appropriate units digit, you’d then look at the units digit of 3r . For
example, the units digit for 35 could be found by saying 5 ÷ 4 has a remainder of 1 so, the units digit of 35
corresponds to that of 31 which is 3. So to reiterate, the procedure is:
1. For low values of n, compute what the units digit of xn is.
2. Find out how many unique integers there are before repetition (call it m).
3. Find the remainder when dividing the large n value of interest by m (call it r)
4. Find the units digit of xr , and that’s your answer.
So for our example of 347 :
47 ÷ 4 has a remainder of 3
33 has the units digit of 7
Other popular numbers of interest are:
Numbers Repeating Units Digits Number of Unique Digits
Anything ending in 2 2, 4, 8, 6 4
Anything ending in 4 4, 6 2
Anything ending in 5 5 1
Anything ending in 6 6 1
Anything ending in 9 9, 1 2
Using the above table, we can calculate the units digit of any number raised to any power relatively simple.
To show this, find the units digit of 2763 :
From the table, we know it repeats every 4th power, so: 63 ÷ 4 ⇒ r = 3
96
r = 3 corresponds to 73 which ends in a 3
This procedure is also helpful with raising the imaginary number i to any power. Remember from Algebra:
i1 i
i2 −1
i3 −i
i4 1
i5 i
i6 −1
i7 −i
i8 1
So, after noticing that it repeats after every 4th power, we can compute for example i114 .
114 ÷ 4 has a remainder of 2 ⇒ i2 = −1
The following are examples of these types of problems:
Problem Set 3.1.5
1. Find the units digit of 197 :

6
7. i78 =
8. i66 =
7

13
3.1.6 Exponent Rules

These problems are usually on the third column, and if you know the basics of exponential rules they are
easy to figure out. The rules to remember are as followed:
xa b
xa · xb = xa+b = xa−b (xa ) = xab
xb
The following are problems concerning each type:
Product Rule: Let 3x = 70.1, then 3x+2 =?

Solution: 3x+2 = 3x · 32 = 70.1 · 9 = 630.9
97
Quotient Rule: Let 5x = 2, represent 5x−2 as a decimal.
5x 2
Solution: 5x−2 = 2 = = .08
5 25
Power Rule: Let 4x = 1.1 then 26x =?3
Solution: 4x = 22x = 1.1 ⇒ 26x = 22x = 1.13 = 1.331
The following are some more problems about exponent rules:
Problem Set 3.1.6
1. 6x = 34,then 6x+2 = 12. 8x = 256,then x =
2. 3x = 70.1,then 3x+2 = 13. 27x = 81, then x =
3. 4x+1 = 2,then 4x−1 = 14. 28 ÷ 43 has a remainder of:
4. 6x = 72,then 6x−2 = 15. 9x = 27x+2 , then x =
5. 7x = 14,then 7x−2 = 16. n4 = 49,then n6 =
6. 4x = .125,then 42x = 17. 16x = 169,then 4x =
7. 8x = 17,then 82x = 18. 53x = 252+x ,then x =
8. 2x = 14.6,then 2x+1 = 19. n6 = 1728,then n4 =
9. 4x = 32,then x = 20. 4x ÷ 16x = 4−2 ,then x =
10. 9x = 108,then 32x+1 = 21. 68 ÷ 8 has a remainder of:
√
3
√
4
√
11. 62x = 36,then 63x = 22. a4 × a3 = 12
an , n =
3.1.7 Log Rules

Logarithms are usually tested on the third and fourth columns of the test, however, if logarithm rules are
fully understood these can be some of the simplest problems on the test. The following is a collection of log
rules which are actively tested:
98
Definition: loga b = x ax = b
Power Rule: loga bn n loga b
Addition of Logs: loga b + loga c loga (bc)
Subtraction of Logs: loga b − loga c loga ( cb )
log b
Change of Bases: loga b
log a
In the above table log10 a is represented as log a. The following are some sample problems illustrating how
each one of the rules might be tested:
Example: Find log4 .0625.

1
Solution: Applying the definition we know that 4x = .0625 = . Therefore, our answer is x = −2
16
Example: Find log8 16.
4
Solution: Again, applying the definition, 8x = 16, which can be changed to 23x = 24 ⇒ x = .
3
Example: Find log12 16 + log12 36 − log12 4.
Solution: We know from the addition/subtraction of logs that the above expression can be written as
16 · 36
log12 = log12 16 · 9 = log12 144 ⇒ 12x = 144 ⇒ x = 2.
4
Example: Find log5 8 ÷ log25 16
Solution: These are probably the most challenging logarithm problems you will see on the exam. They
involved changing bases and performing the power rule. Let’s look at what happens when we change bases:
log 8 log 16 log 23 log 52 3 · log 2 2 · log 5 1 3

log5 8 ÷ log25 16 = ÷ = × = × =3× = .
log 5 log 25 log 5 log 24 log 5 4 · log 2 2 2
In addition to the above problems, there are some approximations of logarithms which pop up. For those,
there are some quantities which would be nice to have memorized to compute a more accurate approxima-
tions. Those are:
log10 2 ≈ .3 log10 5 ≈ .7
ln 2 ≈ .7 ln 10 ≈ 2.3
Where ln x = loge x.
The following is example of how approximations of logs can be calculated:
200 log 200 = 200 log(2 · 100) = 200 · (log 2 + log 100) ≈ 200 · (.3 + 2) = 460
The following are some more practice problems:
Problem Set 3.1.7
99
1. −2 log3 x = 4, x = 21. log4 8 = N then 2N =
2. log12 2 + log12 8 + log12 9 = 22. log9 3 = W then 3W =
3. log3 40 − log3 8 + log3 1.8 = 23. logk 32 = 5, k =
4. logx 216 = 3, x = 24. log3 [log2 (log2 256)] =
25. log4 .5 = k, k =
5. f (x) = log3 x − 4, f (3) =
26. log5 [log4 (log3 81)] =

6. log8 16 =
√ 27. log16 8 = w, w =
7. log3 x = 4, x=
28. log9 k = 2.5, k =

8. logx 343 = 3, x =
29. log2 [log3 (log2 512)] =

9. If log .25 = 3, then log 4 =
30. logb .5 = −.5, b =
10. (log5 6)(log6 5) =
31. logb 8 = 3, b =
11. log3 216 ÷ log3 6 =
32. log3 [log4 (log5 625)] =
12. log3 32 − log3 16 + log3 1.5 =
33. log4 8 = k,k =
13. log2 64 ÷ log2 4 =
34. log4 [log3 (log5 125)] =
14. log4 32 + log4 2 − log4 16 =
35. log4 .125 = k, k =
15. log5 625 × log5 25 ÷ log5 125 =

36. log8 (3x − 2) = 2, x =
16. log4 8 × log8 4 =

37. log4 [log2 (log6 36)] =
17. log4 256 ÷ log4 16 × log4 64 = √

38. log4 x = 3, x=
1 √
18. log8 k = ,k= 39. log5 x2 = 4, x=
3
√
19. log5 M = 2, M= 40. (*) 300 log 600 =
20. 4 log9 k = 2, k = 41. log4 x = −.5, x =
100
√ √
42. 3 log2 x = 6, x= 47. log4 x = 3, x=
√
43. log2 x = 9, 3
x= 48. log2 (log10 100) =
44. logx 64 = 3, x−2 = 49. logx 64 = 1.5, x =
√
45. log9 x = 2, x= 50. log8 (log4 16) =
46. logk 1728 = 3, k = 51. log9 (log3 27) =
3.1.8 Square Root Problems

A common question involves the multiplication of two square roots together to solve for (usually) an integer
value. For example:
√ √ √ √ √
12 × 27 = 12 × 3 × 9
√ √
= 36 × 9
= 6 × 3 = 18
Usually the best approach is to figure out what you can take away from one square roots and multiply the
other one by it. So from
√ the√above example, notice that we can take a 3 away from 37 to multiply the 12
with, leading to just 36 × 9 which are easy square roots to calculate. With this method, there are really
no “tricks” involved, just a method that should be practiced in order to master it. The following are some
more problems:
Problem Set 3.1.8
√ √ √
1. 75 × 27 = 7. 44 × 11 =
√ √ √
2. 75 × 48 = 8. 96 × 24 =
√ √ √
3. 44 × 99 = 9. 72 × 18 = =
√ √ √ √
4. 39 × 156 = 10. 45 ÷ 80 =
√ √ √ √
5. 27 × 48 = 11. 28 ÷ 63 =
√ √
3
6. 98 × 8 = 12. 125 × 512 =
3.1.9 Finding Approximations of Square Roots

√
Seeing a problem like approximating 1234567 is very common in the middle of the test. The basic trick is
you want to “take out” factors of 100 under the radical. Let’s
√ look at the
√ above example after noticing that
we can roughly approximate (within the margin of error) 1234567 ≈ 1230000. Now:
√ √ √
1230000 = 123 · 100 · 100 = 10 · 10 123
101
√
Now we are left with a much simpler approximation of the 100 · 123 ≈ 100 · 11 = 1100.
You can follow the same procedure for cubed roots as√well, only you need to find factors of 1000 under
the
√ radical to√take out. Let’s look at the example of 3 1795953 after making the early approximation of
3
1795953 ≈ 3 1795000
√
3
√
3
√
3
1795000 = 1795 · 1000 = 10 · 1795
Well we should have memorized that 123 = 1728 so we can form a rough approximation:
√
3
10 · 1795 = 10 · 12.1 = 121
So the trick is if you are approximating the nth root of some number, you “factor out” sets of the n-digits
and then approximate a much smaller value, then move the decimal place over accordingly.
√
3
Now in some instances you are asked to find the exact value of the cubed root. For example: 830584. Now
the procedure would be as followed:
1. Figure out how many digits you are going to have by noticing how many three-digit “sets” there are.
Most will only be two digit numbers, however this is not guaranteed.
2. To find out the units digit, look at the units digit of the number given and think about what number
cubed would give that result.
3. After that, you want to disregard the last three digits, and look at the remaining number and find out
what number cubed is the first integer less than that value.
√
So to use the procedure give above for the problem of 3 830584:
1. Well you have two, three-digit “sets” (the sets being 584 and 830). This means that we are looking for
a two-digit number in our answer.
2. The last digit is 4, so what number cubed ends in a 4? The answer is that 43 = 64 so the last digit of
the answer is 4.
3. Now we disregard the first set of three (584) and look at the remaining numbers (830). So what number
cubed is less than 830. Well we know 103 = 1000 and 93 = 729 so 9 is the largest integer so that when
cubed is less than 830. So that is the tens digit.
4. The answer is 94.
The following are problems so that you can practice this procedure of finding approximate and exact values
of square and cubed roots.
Problem Set 3.1.9
√ √
1. (*) 15376 = 5. (*) 6543210 =
√
3
√
3
2. 830584 = 6. 658503 =
√ √
3. (*) 23456 = 7. (*) 6213457 =
√ √
4. (*) 32905 = 8. (*) 173468 =
102
√ √
9. (*) 6420135 = 20. (*) 80808 =
√ √
10. (*) 872143 = 21. (*) 97531 =
√
11. (*) 272727 = √
22. (*) 86420 =
√
12. (*) 38527 = √ √
23. (*) 8844 × 6633 =
√
13. (*) 32323 =
√
3
√
24. (*) 217777 × 3777 × 57 =
√
14. (*) 18220 =
√
3
√
25. (*) 26789 × 911 × 31 =
√
15. (*) 25252 =
√
3
√
√ 26. (*) 215346 × 3690 × 57 =
16. (*) 265278 =
√
√ 27. (*) 3
2006 × 6002 =
17. (*) 81818 =
√ √
3
√
18. (*) 262626 = 28. (*) 63489 × 1611 × 41 =
√ √
4
√
3
√
19. (*) 765432 = 29. (*) 14643 × 1329 × 120 =
3.1.10 Complex Numbers

√
The following is a review of Algebra-I concerning complex numbers. Recall that i = −1. Here are important
definition concerning the imaginary number a + bi:
Complex Conjugate: a − bi
√
Complex Modulus: a2 + b2
b
Complex Argument: arctan
a
The only questions that are usually asked on the number sense test is multiplying two complex numbers and
rationalizing a complex number. Let’s look at examples of both:
Multiplication: (a + bi) · (c + di) = (ac − bd) + (ad + bc)i
Example: (3 − 2i) · (4 + i) = a + bi, a + b =

Solution: a = 3 · 4 + 2 · 1 = 14 and b = 3 · 1 + (−2) · 4 = −5. So a + b = 14 − 5 = 9.
a − bi
Rationalizing: (a + bi)−1 =
a2 + b2
Example: (3 − 4i)−1 = a + bi, a − b =?
3 + 4i 3 4 3 4 1
Solution: (3 − 4i)−1 = 2 ⇒a= and b = . So a − b = − =− .
3 + 42 25 25 25 25 25
103
The following are some more practice problems about Complex Numbers:
Problem Set 3.1.10
1. (4 − i)2 = a + bi, a = 18. The modulus of 14 + 48i is:
2. (6 − 5i)(6 + 5i) = 19. (2 − 5i)2 = a + bi, a + b =
3. The conjugate of (4i − 6) is 20. (5 + 4i)(3 + 2i) = a + bi, a =

a + bi, a =
21. (0 + 4i)2 = a + bi, b =

4. (5 + i)2 = a + bi, a =
22. (4 + 5i)(4 − 5i) =

5. (9 − 3i)(3 + 9i) = a + bi, a =
23. The modulus of (11 + 60i)2 is:

6. (8 + 3i)(3 − 8i) = a + bi, a =
24. (0 − 3i)5 = a + bi, b =

7. (2 + 3i) ÷ (2i) = a + bi, a =
25. (3 − 5i)(2 + i) = a + bi, a + b =

8. (3 − 4i)(3 + 4i) =
26. (4 − 2i)(3 − i) = a + bi, a + b =

9. (24 − 32i)(24 + 32i) =
27. (1 + i)9 =
10. (5 + 12i)2 = a + bi, a + b =
11. (3 − 5i)(2 − 5i) = a + bi, a + b = 28. (2 + 3i) ÷ (3 − 2i) = a + bi, b =
12. (2 − 5i)(3 + 5i) = a + bi, a = 29. (2 − 3i) ÷ (3 − 2i) = a + bi, a =
13. (2 − 5i)(3 − 4i) = a + bi, a − b = 30. (2i)6 =
14. (4 − 3i)(2 − i) = a + bi, a − b = 31. (3 + 4i) ÷ (5i) = a + bi, a + b =
15. (2 + 7i)(2 − 7i) = a + bi, a − b = 32. The modulus of (24 + 7i)2 is:
16. (2 + 3i)(4 + 5i) = a + bi, a = 33. (3i − 2) ÷ (3i + 2) = a + bi, b =
17. (3 + 4i)2 = a + bi, a = 34. The modulus of (5 + 12i)2 is:
104
3.1.11 Function Inverses
Usually on the last column you are guaranteed to have to compute the inverse of a function at a particular
value. The easiest way to do this is to not explicitly solve for the inverse and plug in the point but rather,
3
compute the inverse at that point as you go. For example if you are given a function f (x) = x − 2 and
2
you want to calculate f −1 (x) at the point x = 3, you don’t want to do the standard procedure for finding
inverses (switch the x and y variables and solve for y) which would be:
3 2 2 10
x= y − 2 ⇒ y = (x + 2) · at x=3: ⇒ y = (3 + 2) · =
2 3 3 3
Not only do you solve for the function, you have to remember the function while you’re plugging in numbers.
An easier way is just switch the x and y variables, then plug in the value for x, then compute y. That way
you aren’t solving for the inverse function for all points, but rather the inverse at that particular point. Let’s
see how doing that procedure would look like:
3 3 2 10
x= y − 2 ⇒ 3 = y − 2 ⇒ y = (3 + 2) · =
2 2 3 3
Although this might not seem like much, it does help in saving some time.
Another important thing to remember when computing inverses is a special case when the function is in the
form:
ax + b −dx + b
f (x) = ⇒ f −1 (x) =
cx + d cx − a
This was a very popular trick awhile back, but slowly it’s appearance has been dwindling, however that does
not mean a resurgence is unlikely. The important thing to remember is to line up the x’s on the numerator
and denominator so it is in the require form. Here is an example problem to show you the trick:
2x + 3
Example: Find f −1 (2) where f (x) = .
4 + 5x
2x + 3 2x + 3 −4x + 3 −4 · 2 + 3 −5
Solution: f (x) = = ⇒ f −1 (x) = ⇒ f −1 (2) = =
4 + 5x 5x + 4 5x − 2 5·2−2 8
Here are some problems to give you some practice:
Problem Set 3.1.11
1. f (x) = 3x + 2, f −1 (−2) = 8
7. f (x) = , f −1 (2) =
3+x
4x −1 3 − 2x −1
2. f (x) = , f (2) = 8. f (x) = , f (−1) =
5 4
3. f (x) = 2 − 3x, f −1 (1) = x3

9. f (x) = + 3, f −1 (−6) =
3
4. f (x) = x2 − 1 and x > 0, f −1 (8) = 3x −1

10. f (x) = 2 − , f (5) =
4
5. f (x) = 5 + 3x, f −1 (−2) = 11. f (x) = 2x + 1, f −1 (3) =
6. f (x) = 4 − 3x, f −1 (2) = 12. g(x) = 3x + 2, g −1 (−1) =
105
13. h(x) = 2x − 3, h−1 (−1) = 19. f (x) = 3x − 3, f −1 (−3) =
14. f (x) = 2(x + 3), f −1 (−4) = 20. f (x) = 4 − 4x, f −1 (−4) =
3x − 1 −1
15. f (x) = 2 − 3x, f −1 (4) = 21. f (x) = , f (1) =
x−3
2x + 1 −1
16. h(x) = 5x − 3, h−1 (2) = 22. f (x) = ,f (3) =
x−2
3x − 1 −1
17. h(x) = 5 − 3x, h−1 (−2) = 23. f (x) = , f (−1) =
x−3
1 − 3x −1
18. f (x) = 2x + 2, f −1 (−2) = 24. f (x) = , f (−2) =
x+3
3.1.12 Patterns
There is really no good trick to give you a quick answer to most pattern problems (especially the ones on
the latter stages of the test). However, it is best to try to think of common things associated between the
term number and the term itself. For example, you might want to keep in mind: squares, cubes, factorials,
and Fibonacci. Let’s look at some example problems:
Problem: Find the next term of 1, 5, 13, 25, 41, . . .

Solution I: So for this, notice that you are adding to each term 4, 8, 12, 16 respectively. So each time you
are incrementing the addition by 4 so, the next term will simply be 16 + 4 added to 41 which is 61.
Solution II: Another way of looking at this is to notice that 1 = 12 + 02 , 5 = 22 + 12 , 13 = 32 + 22 ,
25 = 42 + 32 , 41 = 52 + 42 , so the next term is equal to 62 + 52 = 61
Problem: Find the next term of 0, 7, 26, 63, . . .

Solution: For this one, notice that each term is one less than a cube: 0 = 13 − 1, 7 = 23 − 1, 26 = 33 − 1,
63 = 43 − 1, so the next term would be equal to 53 − 1 = 124.
Here are some more problems to give you good practice with patterns:
Problem Set 3.1.12
1. Find the next term of 48, 32, 24, 20, 18, . . .: 6. The next term of 1, 2, 6, 24, 120, . . . is:
2. Find the next term of 1, 4, 11, 26, 57, . . .: 7. The next term of 2, 2, 4, 6, 10, 16, . . . is:
8. Find the 9th term of 1, 2, 4, 8, . . .:

3. Find the next term of 1, 8, 21, 40, . . .:
9. Find the 10th term of:

4. Find the next term of 0, 1, 5, 14, 30, 55, . . .: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, . . .:
5. Find the next term of: 10. Find the 100th term of
2, 9, 28, 65, 126, . . .: 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, . . .:
106
11. The 10th term of 2, 5, 10, 17, 26 . . . is: 14. The 8th term of 0, 7, 26, 63, 124, . . . is:
12. The next term of 1, 4, 10, 19, 31, . . . is: 15. The next term of 1, 5, 6, 11, 17, 28, . . . is:
13. The 8th term of 2, 9, 28, 65, 126, . . . is: 16. Find the next term of .0324, .054, .09, .15, . . .:
3.1.13 Probability and Odds

Usually these problems involve applying the definitions of Odds and Probability which are:
Desired Outcomes
Probability =
Total Outcomes
Desired Outcomes
Odds =
Undesirable Outcomes
1 1
So the probability of rolling snake-eyes on a dice would be 36 while the odds of doing this would be 35 . Usu-
ally the problems involving odds and probability on Number Sense tests are relatively simple where desired
outcomes can be computed by counting. The following are some practice problems so you can be familiar
with the types of problems asked:
Problem Set 3.1.13
1. The odds of drawing a king from a 8. If three dice are tossed once, what is the
52-card deck is: probability of getting three 5’s:
2. If 2 dice are tossed, what is the 9. If all of the letters in the words
probability of getting a sum of 11: ”NUMBER SENSE” are put in a box, what are
the odds of drawing an ’E’:
3. A bag has a 3 red, 6 white, and 9

8
blue marbles. What is the probability of 10. The probability of success if .
17
drawing a red one: The odds of failure is:
4. Three coins are tossed. Find the odds 11. If all of the letters in the words
of getting 3 tails: ”STATE MEET” were put in a box, what
is the probability of drawing an ’E’:
5. The odds of losing are 4-to-9. The

probability of winning is: 12. A pair of dice is thrown, the odds that the
sum is a multiple of 5 is:
5
6. The probability of winning is .
9 13. The probability of losing is 44 49 %.
The odds of losing is:
The odds of winning is:
7
7. The odds of losing is . 14. The odds of winning the game is 3 to 5.
13
The probability of winning is: The probability of losing the game is:
107
15. A number is drawn from {1, 2, 3, 6, 18}. The 23. A pair of dice is thrown. The odds that
probability that the number drawn is not a the sum is 6 or 8 is:
prime number is:
24. Two dice are tossed. What is the

16. The odds of drawing a red 7 from a probability the sum is a multiple of 4:
standard 52-card deck is:
25. Two dice are tossed. What is the

17. A number is randomly drawn from the set
probability the sum is a multiple
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}. What are the
of 5:
odds that the number drawn is odd:
18. A number is drawn from the set 26. A die is rolled. What is the probability
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. What is the probability that a multiple of 2 is shown:
that the number drawn is a factor of 6:
27. A die is rolled. What is the probability

19. The odds of randomly drawing a prime number that a composite number is rolled:
from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is:
28. A die is rolled. What is the probability

20. When two dice are tossed, the probability
that a factor of 12 is shown:
that the sum of the faces will be 3 is:
21. A pair of dice is thrown. The probability 29. The probability of losing is 4-to-7.
that their sum is 7 is: What are the odds of winning:
22. A pair of dice is thrown. The odds that 30. A pair of dice are rolled. What are the
their sum is 7 is: odds that the same number is shown:
3.1.14 Sets
Questions concerning sets are by far the easiest problems on the number sense tests. The only topics
that are actively questioned are the definitions of intersection, union, compliment, and subsets. Let sets
A = {M, E, N, T, A, L} and B = {M, A, T, H} then:
Intersection: The intersection between A and B (notated as C = A ∩ B) is defined to be elements which

are in both sets A and B. So in our case C = A ∩ B = {M, A, T } which consists of 3 elements.
Union: The union between A and B (notated as D = A ∪ B) is defined to be a set which contains all
elements in A and all elements in B. So D = A ∪ B = {M, E, N, T, A, L, H} which consists of 7 elements.
Complement: Let’s solely look at set A and define a new set E = {T, E, N }. Then the complement
of E (notated a variety of ways, typically Ē of E 0 ) with respect to Set A consists of simply all elements in
A which aren’t in E. So Ē = {M, A, L}, which consists of three elements.
Subsets: The number of possible subsets of a set is 2n where n is the number of elements in the set.
The number of proper subsets consists of all subsets which are strictly in the set. The result is that this
disregards the subset of the set itself. So the number of proper subsets is 2n − 1. So in our example, the
number of subsets of A is 27 = 128 and the number of proper subsets is 27 − 1 = 127. Another way to ask
how many different subsets a particular set has is asking how many elements are in a set’s Power Set. So
the number of elements in the Power Set of B is simply 24 = 16.
108
The following are questions concerning general set theory on the number sense test:
Problem Set 3.1.14
1. Set B has 15 proper subsets. How 11. The number of distinct elements in
many elements are in B: [{z, e, r, o} ∩ {o, n, e}] ∪ {t, w, o} is:
2. The number of subsets of 12. The number of distinct elements in

{1, 3, 5, 7, 9} is: [{m, e, d, i, a, n} ∩ {m, e, a, n}] ∩ {m, o, d, e} is:
3. The number of elements in the power 13. The set {F, U, N } has how many subsets:
set of {M, A, T, H} is:
14. The set {T, W, O} has how many proper

4. If the power set for A contains 32 subsets:
elements, then A contains how many
elements:
15. Set A has 32 subsets. How many elements
are in A:
5. The number of distinct elements of
[{t, w, o} ∪ {f, o, u, r}] ∩ {e, i, g, h, t} is:
16. The set P has 63 proper subsets. How many
elements are in P :
{m, a, t, h} ∩ {e, m, a, t, i, c, s} is:
17. Set A has 15 proper subsets. How many
elements are in A:
[{f, i, v, e} ∩ {s, i, x}] ∪ {t, e, n} is:
18. The set A has 8 distinct elements.
How many proper subsets with at least
8. If universal set U = {2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19} one element does A have:
and A = {3, 7, 13, 17}, then A’ contains
how many distinct elements:
19. Set A = {a, b, c, d}. How many proper subsets
does set A have:
9. If the universal set U = {n, u, m, b, e, r, s}
and set A = {s, u, m} then the complement
of set A contains how many distinct elements: 20. The number of proper subsets of
{M, A, T, H} is:
10. The universal set U = {n, u, m, b, e, r, s}, A ⊂ U

and A = {e, u}, then the complement 21. Set A = {o, p, q, r, s} has how many improper
of A contains how many elements: subsets:
3.2 Changing Bases

3.2.1 Converting Integers
One of the topics I’ve found rather difficult teaching to students is the concept of changing bases. It seems
that students have the concept of a base-10 system so ingrained in their mind (almost always unbeknownst
to them) that it is difficult considering other base systems. Hopefully this section will be a good introduction
109
to the process of changing bases and doing basic operations in other number systems. First, let’s observe
how we look at numbers in the usual base-10 fashion.
Everyone knows that 1254 means that you have one-thousand, two-hundred, and fifty-four of something, but
expressing this in an unusual manner we can say:
1294 = 1 · 1000 + 2 · 100 + 5 · 10 + 4 · 1 = 1 · 103 + 2 · 102 + 9 · 101 + 4 · 100
From this we can see where this concept of “base-10” comes from, we are adding combinations of these
powers of tens (depending on what 0 − 9 digit we multiply by). So, you can express any integer n in base-10
as:
n = am · 10m + am−1 10m−1 + am−2 · 10m−2 + · · · a1 · 101 + a0 · 100
Where all am ’s are integers ranging from 0 − 9.
The fact that we are summing these various powers of 10 is completely an arbitrary one. We can easily
change this to some other integer (like 6 for example) and develop a base-6 number system. Let’s see what
it would look like:
n = am · 6m + am−1 6m−1 + am−2 · 6m−2 + · · · a1 · 61 + a0 · 60
Where all am ’s are integers ranging from 0 − 5.
So to use an example, let look at what the number 1236 (where the subscript denotes we are in base-6) would
look like in our usual base-10 system:
1236 = 1 · 62 + 2 · 61 + 3 · 60 = 1 · 36 + 2 · 6 + 3 · 1 = 36 + 12 + 3 = 5110
From this we have found the way to convert any base-n whole number to base-10!
Let’s look at another example:
33214 = 3 · 43 + 3 · 42 + 2 · 41 + 1 · 40 = 3 · 64 + 3 · 16 + 2 · 4 + 1 · 1 = 192 + 48 + 8 + 1 = 24910
So now that we know how to convert from base-n to base-10, let’s look at the process on how to convert the
opposite direction:
1. Find the highest power of n which divides the base-10 number (let’s say it is the mth power).
2. Figure out how many times it divides it and that will be your (m + 1)th digit in base-n.
3. Take the remainder and figure out how many times one less than the highest power divides it (so see
how many times nm−1 divides it). That is your (m)th digit.
4. Take the remainder, and continue process.
I know that this might seem complicated, but let’s look at an example we have already done in the “forward”
direction to illustrate how to go “backwards.” Convert 5110 to base-6:
1. Well we know 62 = 36 and 63 = 216, so the highest power which divides 51 is 62 .

2. 36 goes into 51 one time, so our 3rd digit is 1.
3. The remainder when dividing 51 by 36 is 15.
4. Now we see how many times 61 goes into 15 (which is 2 times, so our 2nd digits is 2).
5. The remainder when dividing 15 by 6 is 3.
6. 60 = 1 divides 3 obviously 3 times, so our 1st digit is 3
7. So after conversion, 5110 = 1236 , which corresponds to what we expected.
110
As a warning, some digits might be zero when you do the base conversion. Let’s look at an example of this:
Convert 1810 to base-4:
42 = 16 and 43 = 64, so 42 = 16 goes into 18 once with a remainder of 2: Third Digit is 1
Now 41 = 4 doesn’t go into 2: Second Digit is 0
40 goes into 2 twice: First Digit is 2
Answer: 1024
This seems like a lot of steps in making a base conversion, but after substantial practice, it will become
second nature. Here are some practice problems with just converting bases from base-n to base-10 and
reverse.
Problem Set 3.2.1
1. 2125 = 10 15. 23410 = 5
2. 108 = 4 16. 1234 = 10
3. 20045 = 10 17. 25 + 2 = 4
4. 34 + 3 = 9 18. 43010 = 5
5. 24 + 2 = 4 19. 54010 = 6
6. 82 = 5 20. 243 + 27 + 3 = 9
7. 43 + 4 = 4 21. 2005 = 10
8. 24 = 2 22. 2006 = 10
9. 33 + 3 = 3 23. 44 + 42 + 40 = 4
10. 48 = 3 24. 33 + 32 + 30 = 3
11. 43 + 23 = 8 25. 216 + 108 + 30 + 5 = 6
12. 24 + 1 = 8 26. 44b = 40, then b =
13. 20010 = 7 27. 12310 = 5
14. 72 + 18 + 4 = 6 28. 1234 = 5
111
29. 82 + 24 + 40 = 4 38. 23410 = 5
30. 2345 = 4 39. 1728 + 288 + 36 + 4 = 12
31. 686 + 98 + 14 = 7
40. 128 + 48 + 12 + 2 = 4
32. 7710 = 7
41. Find b when 4b6 = 29:
33. 43 + 4 = 8
42. 456 = 9
34. 2345 = 10
43. 2104 = 6
35. 34 + 32 + 30 = 3
36. 12310 = 44. 438 = 9

4
37. 125 + 75 + 15 + 1 = 5 45. 345 = 7
3.2.2 Converting Decimals

In the similar manner of how we analyzed an integer n in base-10, we can took at decimals in base-10 as
well. For example, let’s look at how we see .125 in base-10
.125 = 1 · (.1) + 2 · (.01) + 5 · (.001) = 1 · 10−1 + 2 · 10−2 + 5 · 10−3
You can display this in terms of fractions as well:

1 2 5 1 1 1 20 + 4 + 1 1
= + + = + + = =
10 100 1000 10 50 200 200 8
Similar to the previous session, we can replace the powers of ten by the power of any fraction. Let’s look at
converting .3216 to a base-10 fraction:
3 2 1 108 + 12 + 1 121
.3216 = + + = =
6 36 216 216 216
Because of the complexity and calculations involved, going in the reverse direction is seldom (if ever) used
on a number sense test. In addition, the test usually asks for a base-10 fraction representation (be sure to
reduce!). Here are some practice problems to help you familiarize yourself with this process:
Problem Set 3.2.2
1. Change .325 to a base-10 3. Change .1117 to a base-10

fraction: fraction:

fraction: fraction:
112
fraction: decimal:
6. Change .448 to a base-10 9

14. Change to a base-4
fraction: 16
decimal:

fraction: 15. Change to a base-6
36
decimal:
8. Change .6612 to a base-10
fraction: 15
16
decimal:
9. Change .2025 to a base-10
fraction:
15
16
10. Change .556 to a base-10 decimal:
fraction:
11
decimal:
fraction:
30
12. Change .445 to a base-10 19. Change to a base-7
49
decimal: decimal:
3.2.3 Performing Operations

For some basic operations in other bases, sometimes it is simpler to convert all numbers to base-10, perform
the operations, then convert back to base-n. Let’s look at an example where I would employ this technique:
234 × 34 + 124 = 11 × 3 + 6 = 39 = 2134
However, when numbers are larger, this might not be the case, so let’s look at the most popular operations
on the number sense test which are addition (and subsequently subtraction) and multiplication (division is
usually not tested, so I will exclude explaining this operation).
Addition:
For addition of two integers in base-10 we sum the digits one at a time writing down the answer digit (0 − 9)
and carrying when necessary. Other base-n work in the same manner with the only difference being the
answer digits range from 0 to (n − 1). Let’s look at an example:
First Digit: 4 6 + 36 1 16
Second Digit: 5 6 + 2 6 + 16 1 26
1246 + 536 =
Third Digit: 1 6 + 16 26
Answer: 2216
Subtraction:
Subtraction works in a similar method, only the concept of “borrowing” when you can’t subtract the digits
is slightly altered. When you “borrow” in base-10 you lower the digit you are borrowing from and then
113
“add” 10 to the adjacent digit to aid in the subtraction. In a different base-n, you will be borrowing in the
same fashion but adding n to the adjacent digit. Let’s look at an example:
First Digit: Since you “can’t” do 2 − 3 you have to borrow
(44 + 24 ) − 34 34
1224 − 134 = Second Digit: (24 − 14 ) − 14 04
Third Digit: 14 14
Answer: 1034
In the above expressions, everything in italics represents the borrowing process. When borrowing from the
second digit, you lower it by 1 (seen by the −14 ) and then add to the adjacent digit (the first one) 44 .
Multiplication:
What I like to do for multiplication in a different base is essentially perform the FOILing procedure in
base-10 then convert your appropriate result to base-n and apply appropriate carry rules. Let’s look at a
couple of examples (one involving carries and the other one not):
First Digit: 1 × 3 = 310 39
Second Digit: 1 × 1 + 2 × 3 = 710 79

139 × 219 =
Third Digit: 2 × 1 = 210 29
Answer: 2739
The above scenario was simple because no carries were involved and converting those particular single digits
from base-10 to base-9 was rather simple. Let’s look at one with carries involved:
First Digit: 3 × 5 = 1510 1 69
Second Digit: 3 × 4 + 2 × 5 + 1 = 2310 2 59
459 × 239 = Third Digit: 2 × 4 + 2 = 1010 1 19
Fourth Digit: 1 1
Answer: 11569
The above example shows the procedure where you do the FOILing in base-10 then convert that to base-9,
write down last digit, carry any remaining digits, repeat procedure. As one can see to perform multiplication
in other bases it is important to have changing bases automatic so that the procedure is relatively painless.
To practice the above three operations here are some problems:
Problem Set 3.2.3
1. 1126 + 46 = 6 3. 1012 − 112 = 2
2. 536 × 46 = 6 4. 445 × 45 = 5
114
5. 269 ÷ 69 = 9 22. 247 ÷ 67 + 247 = 7
6. 378 + 568 = 8 23. 236 + 456 − 506 = 6
7. 889 + 829 = 9 24. 235 × 45 − 105 = 5
8. 1006 − 446 = 6 25. 1234 ÷ 34 = 4
9. 1048 − 478 = 8 26. 4315 ÷ 45 = 5
10. 1435 ÷ 45 = 5 27. 2223 × 23 = 3
11. 229 − 669 = 9 28. (215 − 125 ) × 115 = 5
12. 1357 × 47 = 7 29. (334 + 224 ) × 114 = 4
13. 1324 − 334 = 4 30. 2356 ÷ 56 = 6
14. 425 − 345 + 235 = 5 31. 5437 ÷ 67 = 7
15. 1235 × 45 = 5 32. 2345 + 4325 = 5
16. 334 × 34 − 214 = 4 33. 334 × 24 − 114 = 4
17. 227 × 47 = 7 34. 445 × 25 + 335 = 5
18. 336 × 36 = 6 35. (135 + 125 ) × 115 = 5
19. 226 + 336 + 446 = 6 36. 114 × 214 − 34 = 4
20. 448 × 48 = 8 37. 125 + 235 + 345 = 5
21. 326 ÷ 56 × 46 = 6 38. (224 + 334 ) × 114 = 4
3.2.4 Changing Between Bases: Special Case

When changing between two bases m and n, the standard procedure is to convert the number from base-m
to base-10 then convert that into base-n. However, there are special cases when the middle conversion into
base-10 is unnecessary: when n is an integral power of m (say n = ma , a an integer) or vice versa. The
procedure is relatively simple, take the digits of m in groups of a and convert each group into base-n. For
example, if we are converting 10010012 into base-4, you would take 1001001 in groups of two (since 22 = 4)
and converting each group into base-4. Let’s see how it would look:
115
First Digit: 012 14
Second Digit: 102 24
Convert 10010012 to base-4 Third Digit: 002 04
Fourth Digit: 12 14
Answer: 10214
Let’s look at an example where the converting base is that of the original base cubed (so you would take it
in groups of 3):
First Digit: 0112 38
Second Digit: 0012 18

Convert 1100010112 to base-8
Third Digit: 1102 68
Answer: 6138
Similarly, you can perform the method in reverse. So when converting from base-9 to base-3 you would take
each digit in base-9 and convert it to two-digit base-3 representation. For example:
First/Second Digits: 39 103
Third/Fourth Digits: 49 113

Convert 6439 to base-3
Fifth/Sixth Digits: 69 203
Answer: 2011103
Problem Set 3.2.4
1. 469 = 3 9. 2314 = 2
2. 489 = 3
10. 4328 = 2
3. 10110112 = 8
11. 3124 = 2
4. 1234 = 2
12. 11112 = 4
5. 21223 = 9
13. 10112 = 4
6. 3458 = 2
14. 1234 = 2
7. 1234 = 2
8. 1010112 = 4 15. 110112 = 4
116
3.2.5 Changing Bases: Sum of Powers
When asked the sum of a series of powers of two (1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + · · · + 2n ), it is best to represent the number
in binary, then we can see the result. For example purposes let’s look at the sum 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64.
If we represented them as binary it would be:
1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 = 1 · 20 + 1 · 21 + 1 · 22 + 1 · 23 + 1 · 24 + 1 · 25 + 1 · 26 = 11111112
11111112 = 100000002 − 12 ⇒ 27 − 1 = 128 − 1 = 127

Although this method is easiest with binary, you can apply it to other powers as well, as long as you are
carefully. For example:
2 + 2 · 3 + 2 · 9 + 2 · 27 + 2 · 81 + 2 · 243 = 2 · 30 + 2 · 31 + 2 · 32 + 2 · 33 + 2 · 34 + 2 · 35 = 2222223
2222223 = 10000003 − 1 = 36 − 1 = 728
3.2.6 Changing Bases: Miscellaneous Topics

There are a handful of topics involving changing bases that rely on understanding other tricks previously
discussed in this book. Take this problem for example:
Problem: Convert the decimal .333 · · ·7 into a base-10 fraction.

Solution: The above problem relies on using the formula for the sum of an infinite geometric series:
3
3 3 3 7 3 7 1
.333 · · ·7 = + + + ··· = = × =
7 49 343 1 7 6 2
1−
7
Another problem which relies on understanding of how the derivation of finding the remainder of a number
when dividing by 9, only in a different base is:
Problem: The number 1234567 ÷ 6 has what remainder?

Solution: The origins of this is rooted in modular arithmetic (see Section 3.4) and noticing that:
7n ∼
= 1(mod 6). So our integer can be represented as:
6·7
1234567 = 1 · 75 + 2 · 74 + 3 · 73 + 4 · 72 + 5 · 71 + 6 · 70 ∼
= (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6) = = 21 ∼
= 3(mod 6)
2
So an important result is that when you have a base-n number and divide it by n − 1, all you need to do is
sum the digits and see what the remainder that is when dividing by n − 1.
Problem Set 3.2.6
1. .555 . . .7 = 10
4. .777 . . .9 = 10
2. The remainder when 1234567 is
divided by 6 is:
5. .111 . . .5 = 10
3. .666 . . .8 = 10
3.3 Repeating Decimals

The following sections are concerned with expressing repeating decimals as fractions. All of the problems of
this nature have their root in sum of infinite geometric series.
117
3.3.1 In the form: .aaaaa . . .
Any decimal in the form .aaaaa . . . can be re written as:
a a a
.aaaa . . . = + + + ···
10 100 1000
Which we can sum appropriately using the sum of an infinite geometric sequence with the common difference
1
being (See Section 2.2.1):
10
a
a a a 10 a 10 a
+ + + ··· = = × =
10 100 1000 1 10 9 9
1−
10
1
Which is what we expected knowing what the fractions of are. For example:
9
4
.44444 . . . =
9
3.3.2 In the form: .ababa . . .

In a similar vein, fractions in the form .ababab . . . can be treated as:
ab
ab ab ab 100 = ab × 100 = ab
.ababab . . . = + + + ··· =
100 10000 1000000 1 100 99 99
1−
100
Where ab represents the digits (not a × b). Here is an example:
24 8
.242424 . . . = =
99 33
You can extend the concept for any sort of continuously repeating fractions.
abc
For example, .abcabcabc . . . = , and so on.
999
Here are some practice problems to help you out:
Problem Set 3.3.2
1. .272727 . . . = 6. .020202 . . . =
2. .414141 . . . = 7. .727272 . . . =
3. .212121 . . . = 8. .151515 . . . =
4. .818181 . . . = 9. .308308 . . . =
5. .363636 . . . = 10. .231231 . . . =
118
11. .303303 . . . = 12. .099099099 . . . =
3.3.3 In the form: .abbbb . . .

Fractions in the form .abbbb . . . are treated in a similar manner (sum of an infinite series) with the inclusion
of one other term (the .a term). Let’s see how it would look:
b
a b b a 100 = a + b
.abbb . . . = + + + ··· = +
10 100 1000 10 1 10 90
1−
10
However we can continue and rewrite the fraction as:
a b 9·a+b (10 · a + b) − a
+ = =
10 90 90 90
Lets take a step back to see what this means. The numerator is composed of the sum (10 · a + b) which
represents the two-digit number ab. Then you subtract from that the non-repeating digit and place that
result over 90. Here is an example to show the process:
27 − 2 25 5
.27777 . . . == =
90 90 18
Here are some more problems to give you more practice:
Problem Set 3.3.3
1. .23333 . . . =
4. .32222 . . . =
2. .32222 . . . =
5. .01222 . . . =
3. .21111 . . . =
3.3.4 In the form: .abcbcbc . . .

Again, you can repeat the process above for variances. In this example we can represent .abcbc . . . can be
represented in fraction form:
abc − a
.abcbcbc . . . =
990
Where the abc represents the three-digit number abc (not the product a · b · c). Here is an example:
437 − 4 433
.437373737 . . . = =
990 990
It is important for the Number Sense test to reduce all fractions. This can sometimes be the tricky part.
The easiest way to check for reducibility is to see if you can divide the numerator by 2, 3,or 5. In the above
example, 433 is not divisible by 2, 3, 5 so the fraction is in its lowest form.
Here is an example where you can reduce the fraction:

247 − 2 245 49
.2474747 . . . = = =
990 990 198
Problem Set 3.3.4
119
1. .2131313 . . . = 7. .2717171 . . . =
2. .1232323 . . . =
8. .2353535 . . . =
3. .2313131 . . . =
9. .0474747 . . . =
4. .3050505 . . . =
10. .2141414 . . . =
5. .2050505 . . . =
6. .3141414 . . . = 11. .1232323 . . . =
3.4 Modular Arithmetic

A lot has been made about the uses of modular arithmetic (for example all of the sections dealing with
finding remainders when dividing by 3, 9, 11, etc...). Here is a basic understanding of what is going on with
modular arithmetic.
When dividing two numbers a and b results in a quotient q and a remainder of r we say that a ÷ b = q + rb .
With modular arithmetic, we are only concerned with the remainder so the expression of
a ÷ b = q + rb ⇒ a ∼
= r(mod b).
So you know 37 ÷ 4 has a remainder of 1, so we say 37 ∼ = 1(mod 4). As noted before, what’s great about
modular arithmetic is you can do the algebra of remainders (See: Section 1.4.5, Remainders of Expressions).
From this phrase alone is where all of our divisibility rules come from. For example, let’s see where we get
our divisibility by 9 rule:
Recall we can express any base-10 number n by: n = am 10m + am−1 10m−1 + · · · + a1 101 + a0 100
So when we are trying to see the remainder when dividing by 9, we want to find what x is in the expression:
n∼
= x(mod 9)
However we do know that 10 ∼

= 1(mod 9), meaning 10a ∼
= 1(mod 9) for all a ≥ 0. So:
n = am 10m + am−1 10m−1 + · · · + a1 101 + a0 100 ∼

= (am + am−1 + · · · + a1 + a0 )(mod 9)
Well am + am−1 + · · · + a1 + a0 is just the sum of the digits, so we just proved that in order for a number n
to be divisible by 9 then the sum of it’s digits have to be divisible by 9.
Learning the basics in modular arithmetic is not only crucial for recognizing and forming divisibility rules
but also they pop up as questions on the number sense test. For example:
Problem: Find x, 0 ≤ x ≤ 4, if x + 3 ∼ = 9(mod 5). Solution: Here we know that 9 ∼ = 4(mod 5), so the
problem reduces to finding x restricted to 0 ≤ x ≤ 4 such that x + 3 ∼
= 4(mod 5), which simply makes x = 1.
The following are some more problems to get you some practice on modular arithmetic:
Problem Set 3.4
120
1. x + 6 ∼
= 9(mod 7), 8. x + 4 ∼
= 1(mod 8),
0 ≤ x ≤ 6, then x = 0 ≤ x ≤ 7, then x =
3. 25 × 35 ÷ 5 has a remainder of: 10. 3x ∼

= 17(mod 5),
0 ≤ x ≤ 5, then x =
4. 26 × 34 ÷ 5 has a remainder of:
11. 3x − 2 ∼
= 4(mod 7),
7
5. 8 ÷ 6 has a remainder of: 0 ≤ x ≤ 7, then x =
6. If N is a positive integer and 12. 68 ÷ 7 has a remainder of:

4N ÷ 5 has a remainder of 2
then N ÷ 5 has a remainder of:
7. x + 3 ∼
= 9(mod 5),
0 ≤ x ≤ 4, then x = 14. 54 ÷ 11 has a remainder of:
3.5 Fun with Factorials!

All of these problems incorporate common factorial problems.
3.5.1 1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + · · · + n · n!
The sum of 1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + · · · + n · n! is a fairly simple problem if you know the formula (its derivation is left
to the reader).
1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + · · · + n · n! = (n + 1)! − 1
The simplest case would be to compute sums like:
1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + 3 · 3! + 4 · 4! = (4 + 1)! − 1 = 120 − 1 = 119
There are slight variations which could be asked (the easiest of which would be leaving out some terms).
1 · 1! + 3 · 3! + 5 · 5! = (5 + 1)! − 1 − 2 · 2! − 4 · 4! = 720 − 1 − 4 − 96 = 619
Problem Set
1. 1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + 3 · 3! + 4 · 4! + 5 · 5! =
4. 1 · 1! − 2 · 2! − 3 · 3! − 4 · 4! =
2. 1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + · · · + 6 · 6! =
5. 2 · 1! + 3 · 2! + 4 · 3! + 5 · 4! =
3. 1 · 1! + 2 · 2! + · · · + 7 · 7! =
121
a! ± b!
3.5.2
c!
This problem has pretty much nothing to do with factorials and mostly with basic fraction simplification.
Take the following example:
8! + 6! 8! 6! 1
= + =8
7! 7! 7! 7
Sometimes it is easier to just factor out the common factorial, for example:
3! + 4! − 5! 3! · (1 + 4 − 5 · 4)
= = 1 + 4 − 20 = −15
3! 3!
Problem Set 3.5.2
8! + 6! 11. 2! − 3! × 5! =
1. =
7!
10! + 8! 12. 8! ÷ 6! − 4! =
2. =
9!
5! · 4!
7! − 5! 13. =
3. = 6!
6!
4 × 5! − 5 × 4!
11! − 9! 14. =
4. = 4!
10!
4 × 5! + 5 × 4!
10! − 11! 15. =
5. = 4!
9!
6 × 7! − 7 × 6!
16. =
6. 6 · 5 · 4! − 5! = 6!
10 × 9! − 10! × 9
7. (2! + 3!) ÷ 5! = 17. =
9!
8! × 7 − 8 × 7!
8. (2! × 3!) − 4! = 18. =
7!
11 × 10! − 11! × 10
9. 7! ÷ 6! − 5! = 19. =
11!
10. 7 × 5! − 6! = 20. 6! ÷ (3! × 2!) =
3.5.3 Wilson’s Theorem

I’ve seen a couple of questions in the latter stages of the number sense question which asks something along
the lines of:
6! ∼
= x(mod 7), 0 ≤ x ≤ 6, x =?
Questions like this use the result from Wilson’ Theorem which states:
For prime p, (p − 1)! ∼

= (p − 1)(mod p)
So using the above Theorem, we know that 6! ∼

= x(mod 7), 0 ≤ x ≤ 6, x = 6.
122
It is essentially for p to be prime Wilson’s Theorem to be applicable. Usually, with factorial problems, you
can lump common factors and then can check divisibility. For example:
4! ∼
= x(mod 6), 0 ≤ x ≤ 5, x =?
Well we know that 4! = 4 · 3 · 2 · 1 = 4 · 6 ∼
= 0(mod 6) ⇒ x = 0.
The following are some more problems to give you some practice:
Problem Set 3.5.3
1. (4!)(3!)(2!) ∼
= x(mod 8), 5! · 3! ∼
4. = k(mod 8),
0 ≤ x ≤ 7, then x = 4!
0 ≤ k ≤ 7, then k =
2. (4 + 2)! ∼
= x(mod 7), 5! · 4! ∼
5. = k(mod 9),
0 ≤ x ≤ 6, then x = 3!
0 ≤ k ≤ 8, then k =
3. (5 − 2)! ∼
= x(mod 5), 6. 5! · 3! ∼
= k(mod 8),
0 ≤ x ≤ 5, then x = 0 ≤ k ≤ 7, then k =
3.6 Basic Calculus

If you are one of the fortunate to reach the end of the fourth column, you will experience usually two or three
calculus related problems which are relatively simple if you know the basics of calculus. If you haven’t had
basic calculus preparation, the following is a rough introduction on the computations of limits, derivatives,
and integrals associated with the number sense test.
3.6.1 Limits
Usually the limits are the simplest kind where simple substitution can be used to get an appropriate answer.
For example:
lim 3x2 − 4 = 3 · 32 − 4 = 23
x→3
0
However certain problems, which when passing the limit, might lead to a violation. In this case, you want
0
to see if there are any common factors that you can cancel so that passing the limit doesn’t give you an
indeterminate form. Let’s look at an example:
(x − 2)(x + 3) (x + 3) 5
lim = lim =
x→2 (x + 5)(x − 2) x→2 (x + 5) 7
0
If we had plugged in x = 2 into the original problem, we would have gotten a form, however after canceling
0
the factors, we were able to pass the limit.
The final testable question concerning limits involve l’hôpitals rule (this requires the understanding of deriva-
tives in order to compute it, see the next section for instructions on how to compute that). L’hôpitals rule
0 ∞
states that if you come across a limit that gives an indeterminant form (either or ) you can compute
0 ∞
the limit by taking the derivative of both the numerator and the denominator then passing the limit. So:
f (x) 0 ∞ f (x) f 0 (x) f 0 (n)
lim = or ⇒ lim = lim 0 ⇒ 0
x→n g(x) 0 ∞ x→n g(x) x→n g (x) g (n)
123
sin x
Let’s look at an example of l’hôpitals rule with computing the limit lim :
x→0 x
sin x 0 sin x (sin x)0 cos x
lim = ⇒ lim = lim = lim =1
x→0 x 0 x→0 x x→0 x0 x→0 1
The following are some more practice problems with limits:
Problem Set 3.6.1
3x + 8 3x − 1
1. lim = 5. lim =
x→∞ 7x − 4 x→∞ x
2. lim 2x − 6 = x3 − 27
x→4
6. lim =
x→3 x − 3
x2 − 4 x2 − 3x
3. lim = 7. lim =
x→2 x − 2 x→0 x
x3 − 8 x3 − 27
4. lim = 8. lim =
x→2 x2 − 4 x→3 x2 − 9
3.6.2 Derivatives
Usually on the number sense test, there is guaranteed to be a derivative (or double derivative) of a polynomial.
Almost every single time, the use of the power rule is all that is required, so let’s see how we can take the
derivative of a polynomial:
Define: f (x) = an xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x1 + a0 x0
then
f 0 (x) = an (n)xn−1 + an−1 (n − 1)xn−2 + · · · + a1 (1)x0
So the procedure is you multiply the coefficient by the power and then lower the power (notice that a con-
stant after differentiating disappears). Let’s look at an example:
Problem: Let f (x) = x3 − 3x2 + x − 3, solve for f 0 (2).

Solution: f 0 (x) = 1 · 3x2 − 3 · 2x + 1 ⇒ f 0 (2) = 1 · 3 · 22 − 3 · 2 · 2 + 1 = 1
When approached with taking double derivatives (f 00 (x)), then just follow the procedure twice:
Problem: Let f (x) = 5x3 + 3x2 − 7, solve for f 00 (1).

Solution: f 0 (x) = 5 · 3x2 + 3 · 2x = 15x2 + 6x ⇒ f 00 (x) = 15 · 2x + 6 ⇒ f 00 (1) = 30 · 1 + 6 = 36
In the off chance that the derivative of sine/cosine or the ex /ln x is needed (like for using l’hôpitals rule),
here is a chart showing these functions and their derivatives:
Function Derivative
sin x cos x
cos x − sin x
ex ex
1
ln x x
124
For more derivative rules, consult a calculus textbook (it would be good to be familiar with more derivative
rules for the math test, but unlikely those rules will be applied to the number sense test).
Here are some problems to practice taking derivatives:
Problem Set 3.6.2
1. f (x) = 3x2 + x − 5, f 0 (−2) = 15. f (x) = x5 + x3 − x, f 00 (2) =
2. f (x) = x2 − 2x + 22, f 0 (2) = 16. f (x) = 4x3 − 3x2 + x, f 0 (−1) =
3. g(x) = 2x2 − 3x + 1, g 0 (2) = 17. f (x) = x3 − 3x2 + 5x, f 00 (2) =
4. f (x) = 3x3 − 3x + 3, f 0 (−3) = 18. f (x) = 4x3 − 3x2 + 2x, f 00 (1) =
5. f (x) = 4x3 + 2x2 , f 00 (−.5) = 19. f (x) = 2x2 − 3x + 4, f 0 (−1) =
6. f (x) = x3 − 3x + 3, f 0 (3) = 20. f (x) = 4 − 3x − 2x2 , f 0 (−1) =
7. f (x) = x4 − 4x + 4, f 0 (4) = 21. g(x) = x3 − 3x − 3, g 0 (−3) =
8. f (x) = 3x2 + 4x − 5, f 0 (−6) = 22. g(x) = 2x3 + 3x2 + 5, g 00 (4) =
9. f (x) = 2x3 − 3x4 , f 00 (−1) = 23. h(x) = 1 + 2x2 − 3x3 , h00 (4) =
10. f (x) = 4x3 − 3x2 + 1, f 0 (−1) = 24. f (x) = 4 − 3x2 + 2x3 , f 00 (5) =
11. f (x) = x2 − 3x + 4, f 00 (−1) = 25. f (x) = x3 − 3x + 3, f 0 (−3) =
12. f (x) = 3x + 5x2 − 7x4 , f 0 (1) = 26. f (x) = x4 − 4x2 + 4, f 0 (−4) =
13. f (x) = 3x3 − 2x2 + x, f 00 (1) = 27. f (x) = 3x3 + 3x − 3, f 0 (−3) =
1
14. f (x) = 2x3 − 4x2 + 6x, f 0 (1) = 28. f (x) = 3x2 − 4x + 2, f 0 ( ) =
3
3.6.3 Integration
3.6.4 Integration
Again, only basic integration is required for the number sense test. The technique for integrating is essentially
taking the derivative backwards (or anti-derivative) and then plugging in the limits of integration. The
125
following shows a generic polynomial being integrated:
Z b b
an n+1 an−1 n a1 a0
an xn +an−1 xn−1 +· · ·+a1 x1 +a0 x0 dx = F (x) = x + x + · · · + x2 + x1 = F (b)−F (a)
a n+1 n 2 1 a

Z 2
Problem: Evaluate 3x2 − x dx.
0 2
Z 2
1 1 1
Solution: 3x − x dx = x3 − x2
2
= (23 − 22 ) − (03 − · 0) = 6
0 2 0 2 2
Again, you can apply the table in the previous section for computing integrals of functions (just go in reverse).
To end this section on Integration, there is one special case when integrating, such that the integral is trivial,
and that is: Z a
Odd Function dx = 0
−a
So when you are integrating an odd function who’s limits are negatives of each other, the result is zero. Let’s
look at an example of where to apply this:
Z π
4
sin(x) dx = 0
−π
4
Since sine is an odd function, the integral (with the appropriate negative limits) is simply zero!
The following are some more practice problems concerning integration:
Problem Set 3.6.3
Z 2
Z π
2 9. sin x dx =
1. x + 3 dx =
0 0
Z 4
Z π
2. 2x − 3 dx = 10. cos x dx =
2 0
Z 3
Z 4 x
3. 2x dx = 11. dx =
1 0 3
Z 3
Z 3
4. 2
x dx = 12. x2 dx =
−3 1
4
Z 3
Z
x 3x
5. dx = 13. dx =
0 2 1 2
Z 1
Z 3
6.
3
x 4 dx = 14. x−2 dx =
0 1
3
Z 3 Z 2
7. 2
(x − 2) dx = 15. x−2 dx =
1 1
Z 4 Z 1
8. x + 1 dx = 16. 1 − x2 dx =
−2 0
126
Z 4 √
Z 1 √
3
17. x dx = 29. x dx =
0 0
Z 2 Z 2
18. 4x dx = 30. 3x2 dx =
−1 −1
Z 3
4
x2 dx =
Z
19. 3
0 31. x dx =
2 5
Z e
2
20. dx = Z 2
1 x 32. x3 dx =
1
Z 4
21. x − 1 dx = Z 2
0
33. x3 dx =
Z 2 0
22. x3 dx =
0
Z 2
34. x3 + 1 dx =
e
−3
Z
0
23. dx =
1 x Z 2
Z 3 35. x dx =
0
24. 2x + 1 dx =
0 Z 2
Z 1
2
36. 2x dx =
25. x 3 dx = −1
0
Z 4
Z 14
37. 3 − x dx =
26. 13 − x dx = 0
0
Z 2
Z 1 3x
27. x + 1 dx = 38. dx =
0 4
−1
Z 1 √
Z 3
4x
28. x dx = 39. dx =
0 0 3
127
4 Tricks Added with 2018 Revision
The following is an assortment of tricks that can be used to solve problems from more recent Number Sense
Exams. Some tricks are variations or extensions of already mentioned shortcuts (which I’ll reference) while
others are entirely new ones. They are broken out into rough categories in order to better organize them.
4.1 Multiplication
4.1.1 Multiplying Three-Digit Number by Two-Digit Number
We briefly touched on how to apply FOILing/LIOFing principles in Section 1.1 – chiefly concerning ourselves
with two-digit number multiplication – but it seems that more recent exams have really emphasized the multi-
plication of three-digit numbers, starting around the third column. We’ll start by illustrating how to perform
a multiplication of a three-digit number, n1 = abc, by a two-digit number n2 = ef , where a, b, c, e, f are digits.
When doing a three-digit by two-digit multiplication, it’s best to break it down into a two-digit multiplication
(while keeping track of carries) followed by a two-digit and one-digit multiplication. The reason this is possible
is that you can treat n2 as being a three-digit number, with it’s leading digit being a 0. After that, you then
”group” the digits bc and ef together (and treat each collection as an individual unit) and perform a normal
FOIL/LIOF twice. To understand this concept better, lets take a look at what we do when we multiply
abc × 0ef :
abc = 100a + (bc) and 0ef = 100 · 0 + (ef )

[100a + (bc)] × [100 · 0 + (ef )] = 100a · 0 + 100a(ef ) + 0 · (bc) + (bc)(ef )
Which simplifies to:
100a(ef ) + (bc)(ef )
Now what does this tell us:
1. The one’s and ten’s digit of the answer is simply the last two digits when performing the multiplication
of the groups of bc and ef .
2. Almost always there will be a carry – possibly a two-digit carry – when performing this multiplication.
3. The remainder of the answer is just the leading digit of the three-digit number, a, multiplied by the
two-digit number, ef , plus the carry.
Here is a simple example:

Units and Tens: 17 × 15 = 2 55
117 × 15 = Remaining 1 × 15 + 2 = 17
Answer: 1755
In an nutshell: you perform the 17 by 15 multiplication first to get the last two digits and keep track of the
carry, then you perform the 1 and 15 multiplication to get the remaining digits (including the previously
calculated carry). Here is a slightly more difficult problem.
Units and Tens: 33 × 37 = 12 21

233 × 37 = Remaining 2 × 37 + 12 = 86
Answer: 8621
In this example, the carry is actually a two-digit carry because the first multiplication produces a four-digit
number. Also, don’t be surprised if these straightforward multiplications require the use of other tricks. For
the first step, you can use the Multiplying Two Numbers Equidistant from a Third Number (Section 1.2.10)
and the Squares Ending in 5 (Section 1.2.8) tricks to do 33 × 37 = 352 − 22 = 1221 in order to quickly
128
perform that step. After that is done, the rest is pretty straightforward.
The following are exercises to familiarize you with performing these more involved multiplications. Note:
sometimes other shortcuts can be used, so be on the lookout!
Problem Set 4.1.1
1. 314 × 17 = 12. 35 × 122 =
2. 143 × 91 = 13. 123 × 98 =
3. 202 × 34 =
14. 135 × 79 =
4. 13 × 332 =
15. 17 × 289 =
5. 202 × 53 =
16. 121 × 81 =
6. 112 × 13 =
17. 48 × 152 =
7. 221 × 23 =
18. 751 × 18 =
8. 123 × 45 =
19. 16 × 216 =
9. 231 × 31 =
10. 202 × 76 = 20. 345 × 67 =
11. 321 × 19 = 21. 765 × 43 =
4.1.2 Multiplying Three-Digit Number by Three-Digit Number

This is an extension of the previous section and the procedure is the same but requires a little more multi-
plication and bookkeeping. Let n1 = abc and n2 = def , where a, b, c, d, e, f are digits. You’ll want to do the
groups of n1 as a and bc and n2 as d and ef and perform the FOIL/LOIFing.
abc = 100a + (bc) and def = 100d + (ef )

[100a + (bc)] × [100d + (ef )] = 10000ad + 100[a(ef ) + d(bc)] + (bc)(ef )
This shows us that:
1. Again, the ones and tens digit of the answer is simply the last two digits when performing the multi-
plication of the groups of bc and ef .
2. Again, carries are common, so keep track!
129
3. The next two digits (e.g., the thousands and hundreds) is the addition of the Inner and Outer multi-
plications between the two-digit groups with their one-digit counterpart on the opposing number, plus
the carry.
4. The remainder of the answer is just the two leading digits multiplied together, plus the carry.
Here is a simple example:

Hundreds and Thousands: 16 × 2 + 11 × 4 + 1 = 77
211 × 416 =
Remaining: 4×2=8
Answer: 87772
Now most of the time, the digits of the three-digit by three-digit multiplication are pretty low which makes
the actual multiplication part pretty easy – so the challenge is just keeping track of everything in your
head appropriately. Here is a more difficult problem that requires more concentration concerning the actual
multiplication:

Hundreds and Thousands: 45 × 2 + 17 × 2 + 7 = 1 31
217 × 245 =
Remaining: 2×2+1 =5
Answer: 53165
Here, you had to basically do a FOIL/LIOF on two, two-digit numbers before proceeding to the simple
multiplication with bookkeeping. Additionally, if you would rather just treat each digit as a separate entity
and just move down the line, as explained in Section 1.1, by all means! This is just an alternative way of
producing the same result in, possibly, a quicker amount of time.
The following are exercises to familiarize you with performing these more involved multiplications:
Problem Set 4.1.2
1. 212 × 311 = 9. 234 × 211 =
2. 2082 = 10. 9092 =
11. 123 × 321 =

3. 4042 =
12. 3062 =
4. 331 × 122 =
13. 222 × 203 =
2
5. 707 =
14. 317 × 245 =
6. 131 × 223 =
15. 2042 =
7. 4022 = 16. 4082 =
8. 8042 = 17. 344 × 522 =
130
18. 121 × 411 = 29. 243 × 151 =
19. 221 × 141 = 30. 215 × 152 =
20. 131 × 212 =

31. 132 × 214 =
21. 124 × 312 =

32. 135 × 152 =
22. 311 × 122 =

33. 344 × 522 =
23. 412 × 112 =
34. 126 × 214 =
24. 123 × 301 =
35. 415 × 312 =

25. 511 × 212 =
36. 215 × 321 =

26. 151 × 115 =
27. 213 × 331 = 37. 113 × 314 =
28. 141 × 114 = 38. 414 × 325 =
4.1.3 Multiplying Two Numbers Whose Units Add to 10 and the Rest is the Same
This is a more generalized version of the Squares Ending in 5 Trick (Section 1.2.8). Take n1 = ab and
n2 = ac, with b + c = 10. Then:
ab × ac = (10a + b)(10a + c) = 10a(10a + b + c) + bc

Since b + c = 10, then:
10a(10a + b + c) + bc = 10a(10a + 10) + bc = 100a(a + 1) + bc
So from this, you can see that the last two digits are just the units digits multiplied together, and the
remainder of the digits can be found from taking the leading digit(s) and multiplying it by one greater than
itself. (Note: the Squares Ending in 5 trick uses this fact, knowing always that bc = 5 × 5 = 25, so you can
automatically just write down 25 as the last two digits). Here are some examples:
Tens/Ones: 8×2 16
68 × 62 = Remaining: 6 × (6 + 1) 42
Answer: 4216
Tens/Ones: 3×7 21
173 × 177 = Remaining: 17 × (17 + 1) 306
Answer: 30621
Now you can just as easily combine the Multiplying Two Numbers Equidistant from a Third Number Trick
(Section 1.2.10) with the Squares Ending in 5 Trick – making the first problem be 68 × 62 = 652 − 32 =
4225 − 9 = 4216 – but this “new” trick cuts down on doing the subtraction. The following are a few practice
131
problems to help you with this alternative method:
Problem Set 4.1.3
1. 71 × 79 = 5. 192 × 198 =
2. 112 × 118 = 6. 111 × 119 =
3. 44 × 46 =
7. 333 × 337 =
4. What’s the area of a rectangle with sides 64

and 66 8. 221 × 229 =
4.1.4 Binomial Approximation

I have seen a few questions that uses the well known first-order binomial approximation of:
(1 + x)n ≈ 1 + xn, if |xn| 1
These will typically be approximation questions (as the identity itself is an approximation) and, because
xn 1, the questions usually has this value multiplied by a large integer in order to give a sufficient range
of answers. An example question would be:
1000(1.0002)50 ≈ 1000[1 + (.0002 × 50)] = 1000(1.01) = 1010

This answer is incredibly close to the exact answer of 1010.049 . . .. A natural question that arises is how
much does |xn| need to be less than 1 in order to use it? There is no easy answer to this, but I’d figure
that if the test writers have a problem that looks like you’d be able to use the approximation, then you are
probably OK to use it!
4.1.5 Multiplying by Fraction Close to 1

This trick – which is more like clever factoring – is used whenever you see a whole number being multiplied
by a fraction close to 1. Here is an example:
15 1 14 7
14 × = 14 × (1 − ) = 14 − = 14
16 16 16 8
Compared with trying to reduce a large improper fraction by doing the straightforward multiplication,
treating the fraction as (1 − a small number) is easier to compute the whole and fractional components of
the answer. You can also use this procedure if the fraction is slightly above 1:
13 2 34 1
17 × = 17 × (1 + ) = 17 + = 20
11 11 11 11
Here you can tell that it’s important to perform the fractional multiplication first as it might affect adding/subtracting
values from the whole number portion. In the above problem, the fractional part is improper, so you must
reduce it to a mixed number in order to get a correct answer.
Don’t forget that if the whole number and the numerator of the fraction are of the same value, you can apply
a
the a × trick (Section 1.3.9) for possibly a quicker solution, but you can always apply this method if you
b
132
forget that trick as well. Here are some more practice problems so you can get better with this technique:
Problem Set 4.1.5
7 13
1. 6 × +5= (mixed number) 8. 13 × − 13 =
8 14
14
2. 13 × = (mixed number) 17
15 9. 17 × − 17 =
18
19
3. 18 × = (mixed number)
20 14
10. 14 × − 14 =
17
13
4. 12 × = (mixed number)
14
13
11. 13 × − 13 =
13 16
5. 13 × + 13 = (mixed number)
14
15
12 12. 15 × − 15 =
6. 11 × = (mixed number) 17
13
14 14
7. 11 × = (mixed number) 13. 14 × − 14 =
17 17
4.1.6 n2 + n = (n + 1)2 − (n + 1)
This section is in response to a type of problem I’ve seen crop up on some of the most recent tests. Basically,
by restating the problem in a slightly different way leads to the same factoring of the expression but an
easier time calculating. Notice that:
n2 + n = n2 + 2n + 1 − n − 1 = (n + 1)2 − (n + 1)
You can use this identity to solve the problem of things like 892 + 89 =
892 + 89 = 902 − 90 = 8100 − 90 = 8010

Typically the problem will involve an integer one away from a multiple of 10 or 5, making the squaring and
the subtraction relatively easy. You can also apply the trick in reverse:
662 − 66 = 652 + 65 = 4225 + 65 = 4290
Here are a few more practice problems for you so that you can start to notice when to use this trick:
Problem Set 4.1.6
1. 492 + 49 = 4. 692 + 69 =
2. 792 + 79 = 5. 242 + 24 =
3. 592 + 59 = 6. 99 × 99 + 99 =
133
4.2 Memorizations
The following sections detail some additional memorizations that will need to be practiced in order to better
prepare for questions from more recent Number Sense Exams. These memorizations are in addition to the
highly detailed Section 2.0 and are a supplement not a replacement.
4.2.1 Conversions, Part 2

The following are some additional conversions that have been seen on recent exams:
1 sq. mile = 640 acres 1 bushel = 4 pecks
1 mile = 320 rods 1 day = 1440 minutes
1 rod = 16.5 feet
The rod conversions are especially help as this can easily be used to solve for unusual fractions of miles.
Knowing that a 1 mile = 320 rods × 16.5 feet/rod, through the Double and Half Trick (Section 1.2.6), you
can see that you can reduce 1 mile to 160 × 33 feet. This is extremely helpful if you are asked something
2
like how many feet 11 ’s of a mile is. Additionally, knowing that a day is 122 × 10 minutes can lead to quick
reductions as well.
The following are some problems detailing these relatively obscure conversions:
Problem Set 4.2.1
1. How many bushels are 15 pecks?

1
5. miles is rods
1 8
2. of a mile is how many feet?
11
1
6. of a mile is how many feet?
3. 44 bushels are how many pecks? 44
7. (*) 2 days 7 hours 12 minutes = minutes

4. 160 acres is sq. miles
4.2.2 Exotic Definitions of Numbers

Here are some additional classifications of numbers, similar to what is found in Section 3.1.2:
1. A happy number is a number whose sum of the squares of the individual digits eventually leads to a
chain that terminates to 1. For example 19 is a happy number because 19 ⇒ 12 + 92 = 82 ⇒ 82 + 22 =
68 ⇒ 62 + 82 = 100 ⇒ 12 + 02 + 02 = 1. The first handful of happy numbers are 1, 7, 10, 13, 19, 23,
28, 31, 32, 44, 49, 68, 70, 79, 82, 86, 91, 94, 97, and 100.
2. An extravagant/wasteful number is a number whose prime factorization has more digits than
the number itself (treating both the base and exponents as individual digits). For example 18 is an
extravagant number because 18 = 2 × 32 ⇒ 18 contains 2 digits and its prime factorization contains 3
digits. The first handful of extravagant numbers are 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 33, 34,
36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50.
134
3. An economical/frugal number is the opposite of an extravagant number: its prime factorization
contains less digits than the number itself. For example 128 is an economical number because 128 =
27 ⇒ 128 contains 3 digits and its prime factorization contains 2 digits. Unsurprisingly, cubes and
higher powers of 2 and 3 are economical.
4. An odious number is a non-negative number whose binary representation has an odd number of 1s.
An example is 7 = 1112 which has 3 ones in its binary representation.
5. An evil number is the opposite of an odious number: it has an even number of 1s. An example is
9 = 10012 which has 2 ones.
You can find all these crazy definitions of numbers (and more!) from the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer
Sequences (OEIS). It’s a pretty cool resource that you can spend hours just browsing cool sequences of
numbers.
4.2.3 Square Root of Small Integers

The following are square roots of small integers that are good to have memorized at least to the truncated
thousandths place:
√ √ √
2 = 1.414 . . . 3 = 1.732 . . . 5 = 2.236 . . .
√ √ √
6 = 2.449 . . . 7 = 2.645 . . . 8 = 2.828 . . .
There
√ have been straightforward approximation questions asking things like what is the hundredths digit of
5 as well as approximation questions which you can use the above truncated decimals to help with the
calculations. Here are a few examples:
Problem Set 4.2.3
√
1. Round 2 3 to the nearest tenth.
√
√ 6. The greatest integer less than 12 2 is
2. The greatest integer less than 12 2 is
√ √ √ 7. The greatest integer√ function is written as

3. Truncate 2 + 3 + 5 f (x) = [x]. Find [2 3 − π].
to one decimal place. (decimal)
√ √
8. Round (5 2 + 4 3) to the nearest whole num-
4. The greatest integer
√ function
√ is written as ber.
f (x) = [x]. Find [ 7 − 3].
√ √
9. Round ( 5 + 6 7
5. The greatest integer
√ function
√ is written as to the nearest whole number.
f (x) = [x]. Find [ 6 + 7].
4.2.4 Approximations Using Phi

In addition to the π and e Approximations found in Section 2.1.8, φ is a constant that has occassionally
been asked in recent exams. Here are a few convenient properties:
135
φ = 1.618 . . . φ2 ≈ 2.6 φ3 ≈ 4.2
φ5 ≈ 11 φφ ≈ 2.2 π×φ≈5
e × φ ≈ 4.4 π × e × φ ≈ 13.8
Here are few problems I could find on recent tests that use some of the above approximations:
Problem Set 4.2.4
1. (*) 3.1π × 2.7e × 1.6φ = 2. The greatest integer function is written as

f (x) = [x]. Find [π + e + φ].
4.2.5 Standard Fibonacci Numbers

It’s becoming crucial to have at least the first fourteen Fibonacci numbers memorized as the test writers tend
to ask at least two questions on each test that stem from directly knowing them (it will also help immensely
with reducing the work load concerning the calculations required in Section 2.2.2 and the upcoming Section
4.3). Below is a table of the first fourteen Fibonacci numbers:
F1 = 1 F2 = 1 F3 = 2 F4 = 3
F5 = 5 F6 = 8 F7 = 13 F8 = 21
F9 = 34 F10 = 55 F11 = 89 F12 = 144
F13 = 233 F14 = 377
4.3 Properties of Fibonacci Numbers

Because the number of questions concerning Fibonacci Numbers has exploded in recent years, I decided to
put together an entire section detailing how to solve current as well as possible future questions involving
these numbers. Oftentimes, having the first fourteen Fibonacci Numbers (as detailed in Section 4.2.5) is
essential in order to tackle solving these problems. So be sure you have a firm memorization of those numbers!
One thing to note: I will refer to the well known sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, . . . as the Standard Fibonacci
Sequence, denoted by Fn and any sequence defined by the recursive relation Sn = Sn−1 +Sn−2 as Arbitrary
Fibonacci Sequences, denoted as An . It is important to differentiate between the two as several tricks
involve using both types.
4.3.1 Adding Consecutive Terms of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence, Method 1

This is a common question where the test writer will give the beginning and end terms of an Arbitrary
Fibonacci Sequence and ask for the sum of a subset of the terms. An example is finding the sum of 4, 7, 11,
. . ., 47, and 76.
The trick uses the telescoping properties of the recursion relation of the Fibonacci sequence. Knowing that
136
An = An−1 + An−2 , rearranging yields An−2 = An − An−1 . From here you can see the following:
A1 = A3 − A2
A2 = A4 − A3
A3 = A5 − A4
A4 = A6 − A5
A5 = A7 − A6
A6 = A8 − A7
A7 = A9 − A8
You can sum both the left and the right-hand side of all these equations to produce your telescoping series:
A1 + A2 + A3 + . . . + A7 = (A3 − A2 ) + (A4 − A3 ) + (A5 − A4 ) + . . . + (A9 − A8 ) = A9 − A2
So in general when you are summing up an Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence (starting from the first term), then
sum of the first n terms is simply An+2 − A2 . Using that fact and applying it to our example question, we
just need to find A9 − A2 . We are given up to A5 , so all you have to keep straight is appropriately summing
up to the ninth term:
A6 = 47 and A7 = 76 ⇒ A8 = 76 + 47 = 123 ⇒ A9 = 123 + 76 = 199
Therefore the sum is = 199 − 7 = 192. You can see, the real difficultly with these problems is keeping your
previous two Fibonacci numbers in your head in order to find the next term. There is unquestionably a lot
of bookkeeping involved, so this method is best if the test writter explicitly writes most of the sequence in
the problem statement. That way, you only have to compute two or three additional terms before applying
the formula to find the sum. You can find a few practice problems below.
Problem Set 4.3.1
1. 2 + 1 + 3 + 4 + 7 + 11 + . . . + 29 + 47 = 4. 3 + 4 + 7 + 11 + 18 + 29 + . . . + 123 =
2. 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 5 + 8 + . . . + 24 + 55 = 5. 3 + 7 + 10 + 17 + 27 + . . . + 115 + 186 =
3. 5 + 7 + 12 + 19 + 31 + . . . + 131 + 212 = 6. 15 + 18 + 33 + 51 + 84 + 135 + 219 + 354 =
4.3.2 Adding Consecutive Terms of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence, Method 2

The other way of doing the sum of the terms of an Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence – especially if you are given
few terms in the problem statement – involves using your knowledge of the Standard Fibonacci Sequence,
Fn . I’ll leave out the derivation (because it is lengthy), but you can calculate the sum of the first n terms of
an Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence (An ) using the following formula:
X
= A1 × Fn + A2 × (Fn+1 − 1)
So taking our example from the previous section, you can find the sum of the first 7 terms of 4, 7, 11, . . .,
47, 76 by: X
= 4 × F7 + 7 × (F8 − 1) = 4 × 13 + 7 × (21 − 1) = 52 + 140 = 192
As you can see, this method is calculation-intensive (you have to have your Standard Fibonacci Numbers
137
memorized, perform two multiplications, and then sum everything up), but you don’t have to worry about
actually finding any terms in the sequence. So yeah, either way is difficult, so it’s best if you find the one
that works for you and really practice it well! Here are some more problems for you:
Problem Set 4.3.2
1. The sum of the first eight terms of the Fi- 11. The sum of the first nine terms of the Fibonacci
bonacci sequence 2, 5, 7, 12, 19, . . . is sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, . . . is
2. The sum of the first nine terms of the Fibonacci

12. The sum of the first ten terms of the sequence
sequence 1, 5, 6, 11, 17, 28, . . . is
4, 6, 10, 16, 26, . . . is
3. The sum of the first eight terms of the Fi-

bonacci sequence 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, . . . is 13. The sum of the first ten terms of the Fibonacci
sequence 3, 6, 9, 15, 24, . . . is
sequence 2, 4, 6, 10, 16, . . . is 14. The sum of the first ten terms of the Fibonacci
sequence 0, 3, 3, 6, 9, 15, . . . is
sequence 1, 5, 6, 11, 17, . . . is
15. The sum of the first ten terms of the Fibonacci
sequence 4, 5, 9, 14, 23, . . . is
sequence 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, . . . is
16. The sum of the first eleven terms of the Fi-
7. The sum of the first ten terms of the Fibonacci bonacci sequence 2, 4, 6, 10, 16, . . . is
sequence 2, 5, 7, 12, 19, . . . is
17. The sum of the first ten terms of the Lucas
8. The sum of the first nine terms of the Fibonacci sequence 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, . . . is
sequence 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, . . . is
18. The sum of the first ten terms of the sequence

1, 4, 5, 9, 14, . . . is
sequence −3, 4, 1, 5, 6, . . . is
10. The sum of the first nine terms of the sequence 19. The sum of the first twelve terms of the Fi-
4, 6, 10, 16, 26, . . . is bonacci sequence 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, . . . is
4.3.3 Adding Odd of Even Terms of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence

Again, the derivations are pretty lengthy, so lets just look at the results.
For the sum of the odd terms (e.g., A1 , A3 , etc...) of an Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence:
n
X
A2i−1 = A1 + A3 + A5 + . . . + A2n−1
i=1
= A2n − (A2 − A1 )
138
What this means is that the sum is equal to the next term in the complete sequence (which will be an even
term) with the difference between the first and second terms subtracted from it. Using our previous example
sequence of 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47, . . ., then the sum of the first 3 odd terms (4, 11, 29) is:
X
= A6 − (A2 − A1 ) = 47 − (7 − 4) = 44
For the sum of the even terms (e.g., A2 , A4 , etc...) of an Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence:
n
X
A2i = A2 + A4 + A6 + . . . + A2n
i=1
= A2n+1 − A1
What this means is that the sum is equal to the next term in the complete sequence (which will be an odd
term) with the first term subtracted from it. Using our previous example sequence of 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47,
. . ., then the sum of the first 3 even terms (7, 18, 47) is:
X
= A7 − A1 = 76 − 4 = 72
Now these are trivial examples where the sum is simple to compute. In order to use the formulas, you’ll need
to either have a long list of terms given in the problem statement or they’ll ask about the Standard Fibonacci
Sequence which you’d then have the next term in the sequence memorized to help with the calculations. For
example:
The sum of the first 7 odd terms of the Standard Fibonacci Sequence:
X
= F1 + F3 + . . . + F13 = F14 − (F2 − F1 ) = 377 − (1 − 1) = 377
The sum of the first 5 even terms of the Standard Fibonacci Sequence:
X
= F2 + F4 + . . . + F10 = F11 − F1 = 89 − 1 = 88
Now I haven’t explicitly seen any problems that use these sequences, but it wouldn’t hurt to be familiar
with these procedures if you suddenly see these types of problems make an appearance on either the Number
Sense or Mathematics exams.
4.3.4 Sum of the Squares of Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence

For the sum of the squares of the first n terms of an Arbitrary Fibonacci Sequence (A21 + A22 + A23 + . . . A2n )
the formula is:
A21 + A22 + . . . + A2n = An × An+1 − A1 (A2 − A1 )
Notice that if a Standard Fibonacci Sequence is used, the last term cancels because F2 − F1 = 0, so the sum
is simply Fn × Fn+1 . A quick example is:
12 + 12 + 22 + 32 + . . . + 212 + 342 = 34 × 55 = 1870

Here are a handful of questions involving this formula:
Problem Set 4.3.4
139
1. 22 + 12 + 32 + 42 + 72 =
4. 12 + 12 + 22 + 32 + 52 + 82 + 132 =
2 2 2 2 2 2
2. 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 5 + 8 =
5. 22 + 12 + 32 + 42 + 72 + 112 =
2 2 2 2 2
3. 2 + 3 + 5 + 8 + 13 =
4.4 Additional Formulas

a na − 1
4.4.1 −
b nb − 1
The following is a supplement to the formulas given in Section 1.5.5 and deals with subtracting expressions
a na − 1
in the form − . Here is the formula:
b nb − 1
a na − 1 (b − a)
− =
b nb − 1 b · (nb − 1)
So the numerator of the answer is just the difference between the denominator and the numerator of the
first number (e.g., the number whose numerator and denominator are small values) while the denominator
of the answer is just the multiplication of the denominators of the two numbers. Here is an example:
3 17 5−3 2
− = =
5 29 5 · 29 145
There is another variation to the above formula which is:
a na + 1 −(b − a)
− =
b nb + 1 b · (nb + 1)
So basically, it’s the same procedure as above only you’ll negate the answer. Because there are now four total
types of these problems, when you come across a similar question on the exam it is best to take some time to
notice which type it is and then apply the correct formula. The easiest way of seeing which formula to apply
is to look at both the numerator and the denominator of the more “complicated” number and determine
if they are one greater or one fewer than a multiple of their respective numerator and denominator of the
”simpler” number. The formulas are very similar, so it’s best to have a lot practice!
Problem Set 4.4.1
5 9 2 21
1. − = 5. − =
7 13 7 71
5 11 29 5
2. − = 6. − =
7 15 35 6
7 55 43 7
3. − = 7. − =
11 87 49 8
3 59 23 229
4. − = 8. − =
5 99 25 249
4.4.2 Factorizations
We’ll start by showing two of the most common “obscure” factorizations that are asked about on the Number
Sense exam:
x3 + y 3 = [(x + y)2 − 3xy](x + y)
140
x3 − y 3 = [(x − y)2 + 3xy](x − y)
Usually, these questions will give you the values of (x ± y) and xy and will ask what x3 ± y 3 is equal to.
Here is an example:
Problem: x + y = 5 and xy = 3, then x3 + y 3 =
Solution: Applying the first formula: x3 + y 3 = (52 − 3 · 3)(5) = 80
Oftentimes, the problem will make it difficult to mentally calculate the exact values of x and y, so knowing
the formula is required in order to come up with a correct answer.
There are a host of other really interesting factorizations that aren’t commonly taught in schools that might,
eventually, wind up on the Number Sense or (more likely) the Mathematics exam so I thought I’d share
them. Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Sophie Germain Identity: x4 + 4y 4 = [(x + y)2 + y 2 ][(x − y)2 + y 2 ] = (x2 + 2xy + 2y 2 )(x2 − 2xy + 2y 2 )
2. Vieta/Newton Factorization, squares: (a + b + c)2 = a2 + b2 + c2 + 2(ab + bc + ca)

3. (xy + x + y + 1) = (x + 1)(y + 1)
4. (xy − x − y + 1) = (x − 1)(y − 1)
I can see the Sophie Germain Identity being used if the test writer gives x2 + 2y 2 and xy in the problem
statement. The Vieta/Newton Factorization is useful if you are discussing properties of roots a, b, c of a
cubic polynomial (you can tell that the sum of the squares or the roots is related to the sum of the roots
and the sum of the roots taken two at a time: a2 + b2 + c2 = (a + b + c)2 − 2(ab + bc + ca)). The final two
factorizations are helpful if you ever come across the expression xy ± x ± y and are trying to factor. Similar
to “completing the square”, you can “complete the rectangle” just adding 1 on both sides of the equation
and then factor. I can definitely see this being used in future exams.
As for practice problems, I’ll just stick to the first two identities which have actually been seen on the exam
so far.
Problem Set 4.4.2
1. If xy = 1 and x + y = −2, then x3 + y 3 = 4. If x − y = 2 and xy = 5, then x3 − y 3 =
5
2. If xy = 3 and x − y = −1, then x3 − y 3 = 5. If xy = and x + y = 4, then x3 + y 3 =
3
3. If x + y = 1 and xy = 3, then x3 + y 3 = 6. If xy = −3 and x − y = −2, then x3 − y 3 =
4.4.3 Sum of the Reciprocals of Triangular Numbers

This is a very interesting problem whose solution is really independent of knowing the triangular numbers,
Tn , themselves, but rather just knowning what term n they are in the sequence. Here is the formula:

1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + ... + =2 −
Tn Tn+1 Tn+2 Tm n m+1
141
Here’s an example, with the formula applied:

1 1 1 1 1 1 8
1+ + + =2 − =2 1− =
3 6 10 1 4+1 5 5
All you had to know what that the sequence started with the reciprocal of the first (n = 1) Triangular
number and ended with the fourth (m = 4) Triangular number. Also, the sequence doesn’t have to start
from n = 1, you can have it start from an arbitrary term:

1 1 1 1 1 1 8
+ + + =2 − =
6 10 15 21 3 6+1 21
All that matters is that you need to know what term the first and last Triangular numbers in the sequence
are (which you can back-track using the formulas supplied in Section 2.2.6). Here are a few more practice
problems:
Problem Set 4.4.3
1 1 1 1
1. + + + =
3 6 10 15
1 1 1 1
4. + + + =
1 1 1 6 10 15 21
2. + + =
3 6 10
1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 5. + + =
3. + + + + = 6 10 15
3 6 10 15 21
4.4.4 Geometric and Harmonic Means

Geometric, Gn , and harmonic, Hn , means are starting to be asked on Number Sense exams in a variety of
ways. It’s best to begin with the formulas:
√
Gn = n x1 x2 · · · xn where, x1 , x2 , . . . , xn are values
n
Hn = where, x1 , x2 , . . . , xn are values
1 1 1
+ + ··· +
x1 x2 xn
Questions asking
√ about geometric
√ means are pretty straightforward: What is the geometric mean of 6, 4,
and 9? ⇒ 3 6 × 4 × 9 = 3 216 = 6. One interesting thing to note (for the UIL Mathematics Exam) is that
there are several applications of the geometric mean with right triangles. For instance, the altitude of a right
triangle to its hypotenuse is the geometric mean of the two segments the hypotenuse is split into. Anyways,
I highly suggest looking up various physical interpretations of the geometric mean online.
As for the harmonic mean I have seen two different types of questions. The first involves asking what the
harmonic mean of the roots of a cubic polynomial are. Assuming the roots are r, s, and t, applying the
formula yields:
3 3pqr
H3 = =
1 1 1 pq + pr + qr
+ +
r s t
So you can relate the harmonic mean of the roots to the product of the roots and the sum of roots taken two
at time (similar to what we found with the Vieta/Newton Factorization in Section 4.4.2). No doubt, you’ll
need to familiarize yourself with Section 3.1.4 in order to determine what these sums are. Here is an example:
Problem: What is the harmonic mean of the roots of x3 + 2x2 − 3x + 7 = 0
142
3 · (−7)
Solution: Applying the formula: H3 = =7
−3
The second interpretation of harmonic mean is the classic dual-labor problem. No doubt you’ve come across
a problem like this before: Joe can paint a house in 5 hours and Jane can paint a house in 3 hours; how
many hours does it take for both of them to paint a house? The answer is simply one-half of the harmonic
mean!
1 2 7
Together: × = 1 hours
2 1 1 8
+
5 3
This interpretation is also known as the “Crossed Ladder Problem” (e.g., two ladders are crossed, what is
the height at the crossing point). Anyways, feel free to look up other applications of the harmonic mean as
well. Below are a few more practice problems:
Problem Set 4.4.4
1. The harmonic mean of 5 and 7 is

13 2 5 1
3 2
6. If x3 − x − x+ = 0, then then the
2. If x − 11x + 38x = 40, then the harmonic 12 12 2
harmonic mean of the roots is
mean of the roots is
3. If x3 + 3x2 + 2x + 1 = 0, then the harmonic 7. The harmonic mean of the roots of

mean of the roots is x3 + Bx2 + 3x + D = 0 is 4. Find D.
4. If x3 + 4x2 + 13x + 7 = 0, then the harmonic 8. If 2x2 + 7x − 4 = 0, then the harmonic mean of
mean of the roots is the roots is
5. If x3 − 9x2 + 26x − 24 = 0, then the harmonic 9. The positive geometric mean of 8 and 18 is
mean of the roots is
4.4.5 Distance Between a Point and a Line

Finding the distance between a point and a line is a very computationally intense problem, so you’ll typically
see it on the last column. Assuming the equation of the line is ax + by + c = 0 and the point is (x0 , y0 ), the
formula is:
|ax0 + by0 + c|
Distance = √
a2 + b2
So the numerator is just inserting the (x, y) coordinates of the point into the equation of the line while
the denominator is a little more involved requiring the square root of the sum of squares of coefficients of
the line. Typically, the equation for the line will be an easy Pythagorean triple (a = 3, b = 4) making the
problem a little bit less intense. Here is an sample problem:
Problem: What is the distance between the point (3, 1) and the line 3x + 4y = −2
|3(3) + 4(1) + 2| 15
Solution: Applying the formula: d = √ = =3
32 + 4 2 5
In this case you had to shift the constant to the left of the equals sign in order to have the line in the correct
form before applying the formula. Here are a couple of practice problems:
143
Problem Set 4.4.5
1. The distance between the line 3x − 4y = 6 and 5. The distance between the line 3x + 4y = 5 and
the point (5, 1) is the point (1, 1) is
2. The distance between the line 3x − 4y = 3 and 6. The distance between the point (2, 1) and the
the point (4, 1) is line 3x + 4y = 5 is
3. The distance between the line 3x − 4y = −3 7. The distance between the line 3x + 4y = 1 and
and the point (−2, −3) is the point (−2, 2) is
4. The distance between the point (3, 1) and the 8. The distance between the line 4x + 3y = 11 and
line 5x − 12y = 1 is the point (−2, 3) is
4.4.6 Distance Between Two Parallel Lines

The distance between two parallel lines whose equations are ax + by + c1 = 0 and ax + by + c2 = 0 is simply:
|c1 − c2 |
Distance = √
a2 + b2
Again, the equation for the line is usually an easy Pythagorean triple (a = 3, b = 4) making the problem a lot
more simple to compute. Also, because you are taking the absolute values of the difference, if the constants
are both on the right-side of the equals sign you don’t have to move them to exactly match the equation
of the lines given (oftentimes, this leads to dealing with negative numbers that can lead to more mistakes).
Here are a couple of problems to give you practice:
Problem Set 4.4.5
1. The distance between the lines 3x − 4y = 8 and 5. The distance between the lines 3x − 4y = 7 and
3x − 4y = 3 is 3x − 4y = 10 is
√ √
2. The distance between the lines 3x + 4y = −1 6. The √
distance
√between the lines 2x + 7y = 2
and 3x + 4y = 6 is and 2x + 7y = 5 is
√ √
3. The distance between the lines 5x + 12y = 2 7. The √
distance√
between the lines 11x+ 5y = 5
and 5x + 12y = 9 is and 11x + 5y = −2 is
√ √
4. The distance between the lines 3x + 4y = 9 and 8. The √
distance√between the lines 2x+ 7y = 23
3x + 4y = −1 is and 2x + 7y = 2 is
4.5 Miscellaneous Topics

4.5.1 More on Sets
I’ve seen a lot of questions asking for the number of subsets containing a set amount of elements (e.g., in
a set with 5 elements, how many subsets contain exactly 3 elements). Although this looks like a set prob-
lem, it is more of a combinatorics problem involving the formulas described in Section 2.2.10. Because we
144
don’t care about the specific order of the elements in the subset, you apply the n Ck formula with n being
the number of total elements in the set and k being the elements in the requested sub-set. Here’s an example:
Problem: How many subsets containing only 2 elements does the set {N, U, M, B, E, R} have?
6! 6×5
Solution: Applying the formula: 6 C2 = = = 15
2! · (6 − 2)! 2
The only way to really complicate this is if they ask for the number of subsets containing either 2 or 3
elements (or whatever those arbitrary values are). In this case, you just apply the combination formula
twice and then add (6 C2 + 6 C3 ). Here are some more practice problems:
Problem Set 4.5.1
1. The set {a, b, c} has 2-element subsets element set contain?
2. The set {s, l, o, p, e} has 3-element subsets 8. How many two element subsets does a six ele-
ment set contain?
3. The set {a, b, c, d} has 3-element subsets
9. How many four element subsets does
{m, o, n, d, a, y} have?
4. The set {l, i, n, e, a, r} has 4-element subsets
5. The set {a, b, c, d} has 2-element subsets 10. How many subsets containing only 4 elements
does the set {d, e, c, i, m, a, l, s} have?
6. The set {t, e, x, a, s} has 3-element subsets

11. How many subsets containing only 2 or 3 ele-
ments does the set {s, q, u, a, r, e} have?
7. How many three element subsets does a five
4.5.2 Repeating Decimals in Reverse

Another problem that has been in vogue in recent years is applying all the procedures used with repeating
decimals (Section 3.3), but in reverse. Instead of giving you a decimal and asking for a fraction, they give
you a fraction and ask for the first few digits of the decimal. Here is an example:
23
= 0. (first four digits)
90
There is really nothing new with these types of problems, you just have to work in reverse. Knowing the
denominator is 90, the repeating fraction is in the form .abbb . . .. From here, you are trying to find an a and
b such that ab − a = 23, where ab is a two-digit number (not a × b). Here, it’s quick to see that ab = 25 and
you got your answer of 2555.
The only tricky thing a test writer can do is give you a fraction where some reduction has taken place. Take
for example:
17
= 0. (first four digits)
45
2
Here, the denominator has been reduced by a factor of 2, so you need to multiply by to get the fraction
2
in a form you can work with:
17 34
= ⇒ ab − a = 34 ⇒ ab = 37 ⇒ Answer: 3777
45 90
145
Here are some more practice problems that go through all of the different types of repeating decimals out-
lined in Section 3.3:
Problem Set 4.5.2
1. The first four digits of the decimal for 6. The first four digits of the decimal for
16 11
is 0. is 0.
90 45
13 31
2. The first 3 digits of is 0. 7. The first 4 digits of is 0.
33 90
3. The first four digits of the decimal for
17 8. The first four digits of the decimal for
is 0. 71
45 is 0.
330
4. The first four digits of the decimal for
17 9. The first 3 digits of the decimal of
is 0.
90 42
is 0.
99
5. The first 4 digits of the decimal of
43 13
is 0. 10. The first 4 digits of is 0.
90 45
4.5.3 Repeating Decimals in Other Bases - Convert to Base 10

There are two types of questions involve converting repeating decimals in other bases. The first asks you to
convert them into a base-10 fraction while the second asks you to keep the base the same as the repeating
decimal. We’ll tackle the base-10 conversion here and in the next section we’ll look at keeping the bases the
same. We’ll start off with a simple type of conversion where you only need to use the sum of an infinite
geometric series (Section 2.2.1) in order to solve. Here is an example of that type:
Change .555 . . .8 to a base 10 fraction.
For these types of problems, you can apply the change of base (as explained in Section 3.2.2) to produce an
infinite geometric series which you can then sum using the well-known formula:
5
5 5 5 5 8 5
.555 . . .8 = + + ... = 8 = × =
8 64 512 1 8 7 7
1−
8
Although these problems look pretty intimidating they are pretty straightforward to solve. Now there is a
more complicated form of the repeated decimal problem that uses a general variant of all the procedures
outlined in Section 3.3.2 and Section 3.3.3 (because of the complexity, I have a hard time imagining they’d
do something like Section 3.3.4, but you can certainly extend these methods to come up with a procedure).
For instance, for a repeating fraction in the form .xyxyxyb , with base b, the procedure for converting to a
base-10 fraction is:
1. For the numerator, convert the two-digit number xy into base-10.
2. The denomminator is (b2 − 1)
3. Reduce the fraction if necessary.
146
Problem: Change .353535 . . .8 to a base-10 fraction.
29
Solution: Numerator: 358 = 2910 ; Denominator: 82 − 1 = 63. So your answer is:
63
For a repeating fraction in the form .xyyyyb , the procedure is:
1. For the numerator, convert the two-digit number xy into base-10 and subtract x from it.
2. For the denominator, it is b(b − 1)
3. Reduce the fraction if necessary.
Problem: Change .3555 . . .8 to a base-10 fraction.

26 13
Solution: Numerator: 358 − 38 = 2610 ; Denominator: 8(8 − 1) = 56. So your answer is: ⇒
56 28
Here are some more practice problems to familiarize you with the procedures:
Problem Set 4.5.3
1. Change 0.444 . . .8 to a base-10 fraction. 10. Convert 0.1666 . . .8 to a base-10 fraction.
3. Change 0.333 . . .8 to a base-10 fraction.


13. 0.232323 . . .5 = 10 (fraction)
6. 0.3131 . . .5 = 10 (fraction)

8. Change 0.4777 . . .8 to a base-10 fraction. 16. 0.1313 . . .5 = 10 (fraction)
9. Change 0.3222 . . .7 to a base-10 fraction. 17. Change 0.1444 . . .6 to a base-10 fraction.
4.5.4 Repeating Decimals in Other Bases - Keeping Same Base

If the problem asks you to keep the same base, it’s easiest (at least for me) to do the following procedure:
1. Follow the previous Section (4.5.3) and convert the repeating decimal into a base-10.
2. Typically, you’ll see some reduction in the fraction.
3. Convert both the numerator and the denominator back into the original base.
147
Let’s do most of the same practice problems from the last section but we’ll keep it in the same base this
time:
Problem Set 4.5.4
5. Change 0.777 . . .9 to a base-9 fraction. 12. 0.232323 . . .5 = 5 (fraction)
6. 0.3131 . . .5 = 5 (fraction) 13. 0.1313 . . .5 = 5 (fraction)
a b ab
4.5.5 Remainders with , , and
p p p
It’s best just to show a practice problem first so you know the type of question I’m talking about:
6x 2y 4xy
Problem: If has a remainder of 2 and has a remainder of 3 what is the remainder of ?
7 7 7
As explained in Section 1.4.5, “the remainders after algebra is equal to the algebra of the remainders,” you
can do the multiplication of the first two expression which translates to the multiplication of the remainders.
From there, you can divide the calculated expression (and their equivalent calculated remainders) to get
what the question is asking for:
6x 2y 12xy 4xy
× = ÷3=
7 7 7 7
Same operations with equivalent remainders:
2×3=6÷3=2
Now sometimes when you do the algebra on the remainders, you wind up with a fractional answer. You can
either figure out small, individual values for x and y and use them in the problem expression to calculate
the remainder, or you can think about what xy fits the expression. Here is an example to show both methods:
2x y xy
Problem: If has a remainder of 1 and has a remainder of 3 what is the remainder of ?
7 7 7
xy ∼
Solution 1: Multiplying the first two expressions and dividing by 2 yields: = 1.5 which is a road-
7
block. From the first expression, run through small values of x to find x = 4; do the same for the second
xy 12
expression to find the value y = 3; therefore = which has a remainder of 5.
7 7
148
xy ∼
Solution 2: Again, multiplying the first two expressions and dividing by 2 yields: = 1.5. Multi-
7
2xy ∼
plying by 2 gives = 3. Treating xy together and running through small values yields xy = 5, therefore
7
xy 5
= which has a remainder of 5.
7 7
Both methods work OK, so it’s up to you to find which way you are more comfortable with. Here are some
more practice problems for you:
Problem Set 4.5.5
a b xy
1. If has a remainder of 7 and has a remain- mainder of 1 then has a remainder of
9 9 5
ab
der of 5 then has a remainder of 2x 2y
9 4. If has a remainder of 3 and has a re-
7 7
xy
a b mainder of 4, then has a remainder of
2. If has a remainder of 2, and has a remain- 7
8 8
ab
der of 7, then has a remainder of 2x 3y
8 5. If has a remainder of 5 and has a re-
7 7
xy
3x 3y mainder of 4, then has a remainder of
3. If has a remainder of 4 and has a re- 7
5 5
4.5.6 Minimal and Maximum Value of Expressions

This is a problem where knowing too much Calculus actually winds up slowing you down. Here is an example
problem:
What is the minimum value of 2(x − 1)2 + 3?
People who have done some basic Calculus will want to take the derivative of the expression and set it equal
to zero, solve for x, then substitute that value into the original expression – a very time consuming process!
Oftentimes, these minimum value problems can be easily solved by taking a step back and noticing that the
minimum value of a square is 0! Applying that above, the minimum value (x − 1)2 can be is 0 – this makes
the minimum value of the expression: 2(0) + 3 = 3.
Sometimes the expression isn’t factored, so you’ll have to complete the square in order to get a more
discernible expression where you can apply the above “trick.” Sometimes, the expression might have a
trigonometric function, such as sin and cos where you just need to know that those minimal values are −1.
I’d only revert to taking derivatives if you absolutely can’t figure our the simplified form.
For expressions involving trigonometric functions, you might be asked to calculate maximum values as well.
Just remember that for sin and cos, those achieve a max value of 1. Here are a few practice problems
concerning minimum and maximum values of expressions:
Problem Set 4.5.6
1. The minimum value of f (x) = (x + 2)2 + 2 is
4. The minimum value of f (x) = x2 − 2 is

2
2. The minimum value of y = 2x + 3 is
5. The minimum value of sin(2x) − 3 is

3. The minimum value of f (x) = 2x2 + 4x + 2 is
149
6. The minimum value of y = x2 + 4x is at y =
11. The maximum value of cos(3x) − 2 is

12. The maximum value of 5 − cos(3x) is

13. The minimum value of y = 3x2 + 4x is

2
9. The minimum value of y = x + 2x − 3 is
14. The range of the function y = −x4 + 4 is y ≤

x
10. The horizontal asymptote of y = 4 + 2 is
150
5 Solutions
The following are solutions to the practice problems proposed in the previous sections.
Problem Set 1.1:
2850 7020 561 4233
3392 5265 6992 1150
8648 1728 918 847
3828 5418 4968 5644
4680 7776 5073 2450
1088 6688 242 2484
1820 1320 2976 2240
4836 3819 1232 5680
3111 1215 896 1739
7663 8613 2646 1943
3724 3525 2618 4606
2059 5610 845 704
930 2795 5328 2009
1610 5400 3127 7462
238 1809 2125 2475
4384 31672 46812 29430
17277 36950 21489 48312
42658 3564 5994 69030
22270 27664 11022 13545
294849 128472 211554 124890
13431 397946 185364 283251
190005 66789 293007 176712
151
Problem Set 1.2.1:
1. 594 16. 4884 31. 36663 46. 13794
2. 792 17. 34 32. 704 47. 12100
3. 418 18. 9657 33. 333 48. 1815
4. 5082 19. 26 34. 22.077

49. (*) 648 − 717
5. 814 20. 5883 35. 2.42%

50. 182
6. 726 21. 27 36. 1573

51. 6776
7. 2.53 22. 203 37. 252
52. (*) 31181 − 34465
8. 572 23. 2178 38. 22066
53. 14641
9. 2706 24. 27 39. 14641
54. 23
10. 50616 25. 4551 40. 1452
55. 6006
11. 18 26. 3885 41. 858
56. 136653
12. 3927 27. 38295 42. 2662
13. 25 28. 222333 43. 2420 57. 2310
14. 35631 29. 1155 44. 2310 58. 15004
15. .275 30. 14641 45. 23 59. (*) 75897 − 83853
Problem Set 1.2.2:
1. 124634 6. 24846
4. 345 9. (*) 14488 − 16014
2. 2363.4 7. $15.15
5. 222 10. (*) 2398 − 2652
3. 37269 8. 448844
152
Problem Set 1.2.3:
1. 6000 9. 24.64 17. (*) 1265 − 1400 25. 1280
2. 10800 10. 101 18. 85.6% 26. (*) 185 − 205
3. 6.5 11. .44 19. 16.16

27. 50075
4. 3700 12. 80800 20. 7575

28. 4125
5. 825 13. (*) 376 − 417 21. (*) 376 − 417

29. 6600
6 7
6. 2.56 14. 25 22. 25
30. 4950
7. 3675 15. 5225 23. 80.24
31. (*) 14842800 −
8. 10450 16. 850 24. 7675 16405200
Problem Set 1.2.4:
1. 3600 5. (*) 560 − 620 12. 19800
9. .64
2. 4800 6. 2100 13. 64
3. .88 7. 1800 10. (*) 719 − 796 14. 54000
4. 6300 8. (*) 10504127 − 11. 1.28 15. 72.6

11609825
Problem Set 1.2.5:
1. 40000 12. (*) 4620 − 5107
5. (*) 2102 − 2324 9. (*) 192850 −

2. (*) 189992 − 213150 13. (*) 3917 − 4330
209992
6. (*) 1054 − 1166
14. (*) 384750 −
10. 6000 425250
3. 1.104 7. 200000
11. (*) 139 − 154 15. 153000

4. (*) 425 − 471 8. (*) 6628 − 7326
153
16. (*) 307 − 341 34. (*) 321 − 356 51. (*) 84142 − 67. (*) 5277 − 5834
93000
17. 121 35. (*) 474999 − 68. (*) 118 − 132
525000 52. (*) 583 − 646
18. (*) 597668 − 69. (*) 8130 − 8986
660582 36. (*) 1030 − 1140 53. (*) 58163 −
64286
70. (*) 6332 − 7000
19. (*) 8957133 − 37. (*) 326 − 362
9899991 54. (*) 7546054 −
8340376 71. (*) 54204 − 59910
38. (*) 1576 − 1743
20. (*) 114 − 126
55. (*) 664694 − 72. (*) 237 − 263
39. (*) 461428 − 734662
21. 183000 510000
73. (*) 50805 − 56154
56. (*) 1644 − 1818
22. (*) 7440353 − 40. (*) 38240 − 42267
8223549
74. (*) 14776 − 16332
57. 40625
41. (*) 182076 −
23. (*) 1261 − 1395 201242 75. (*) 12324 − 13622
58. (*) 99071 −
109500
24. (*) 646 − 714 42. 60.25 76. (*) 200163 −
221233
59. (*) 232071 −
25. (*) 22757 − 25153 43. (*) 593749 − 256500
656250
77. (*) 577 − 639
26. 210000
60. (*) 113491195 −
44. (*) 652 − 721 125437637 78. (*) 21855 −
27. (*) 3360 − 3715 24157
45. (*) 775848 − 61. (*) 18457124 −
28. 9300 857518 20399980
79. (*) 632 − 700
29. (*) 347699652 − 46. (*) 1056 − 1168 62. (*) 484306 −
535286 80. (*) 605 − 670
384299616
47. (*) 2253 − 2492
30. .02 63. (*) 6641817 − 81. (*) 1159 − 1283
7340957
48. (*) 93755 −
31. (*) 5842616 − 103625 82. (*) 3167 − 3502
6457630 64. (*) 24 − 28
49. (*) 4303 − 4757 83. (*) 139 − 155
32. (*) 2020 − 2233 65. (*) 35624 − 39375
50. (*) 450570 − 84. (*) 117040 −
33. (*) 3528 − 3900 498000 66. (*) 47362 − 52348 129362
154
Problem Set 1.2.6:
1. 7.8 10. 2016
6. 4368
2. 72 11. 378 15. 1.5
7. 840
3. 96 12. 4410
16. 10.56
8. 4368
4. 720 13. 22.5
9. 3.6 17. 700

5. 2842 14. 4140
Problem Set 1.2.7:
1. 8633 9. 8544 17. 8554 25. 9672
2. 9312 10. 8924 18. 8918 26. 9888
3. 11227 11. 10712 19. 987042

27. 982081
4. 9021 12. 10506 20. 9888

28. 10088
5. 11021 13. 8556 21. 9579

29. 1011024
6. 8277 14. 11342 22. 980099
30. (*) 18062 −
7. 11016 15. 8633 23. 1013036 19964
8. 11663 16. 9212 24. 10379 31. 12996
Problem Set 1.2.8:
1. 6.25 6. −24.75
4. 13225 9. 14
2. 1.225 7. (*) 19699 − 21773
5. 3025
3. 625 8. 255025
Problem Set 1.2.9:
155
1. 3364 3. 2209 5. (*) 111720 − 7. 3481
123480
2. 260100 4. 2809 6. 3136 8. 1681
Problem Set 1.2.10:
1. 7224 13. 1225 25. 4842 37. 9856
2. 3021 14. 5625 26. 900 38. (*) 4745 − 5245
3. 2496 15. 4225 27. 5625

39. (*) 4016 − 4440
4. 3596 16. 1225 28. 5625

40. (*) 9305 − 10285
5. 48.96 17. 441 29. 3025
41. (*) 3035 − 3355
6. 7216 18. 4225 30. 9975
42. (*) 26270 − 29036

7. 864 19. 2025 31. 4200
43. (*) 101076

8. 63.84 20. 7225 32. 936
111716
9. 24.91 21. 3025 33. 7200

44. 14400
10. 3025 22. 1064 34. 625

45. (*) 62132 − 68673
11. 9984 23. 2000 35. 1073
46. (*) 1423267 −
12. 7225 24. 5625 36. −7200 1573085
Problem Set 1.2.11:
1. 1462 4. 252 7. 765 10. 2268
2. 736 5. 1944 8. 574 11. 1008
3. 403 6. 976 9. 1458 12. 1612
156
Problem Set 1.3.1:
1. 40804 12. 91809 23. 509796 34. 38688
2. 164836 13. 826281 24. 49374

35. 37942
3. 253009 14. 161604 25. 23632

36. 274576
4. 368449 15. 499849 26. 67196
37. 41363
5. 43264 16. 34013 27. 24969
6. 93636 17. 644809 28. 49731 38. 19881
7. 259081 18. 163216 29. 46144

39. 108332
8. 646416 19. 262144 30. 204020

40. 25864
9. 495616 20. 37942 31. 35143
41. 144288144
10. 166464 21. 374544 32. 15004
11. 362404 22. 96942 33. 842724 42. 444889
Problem Set 1.3.2:
1. 640 8. 10020 15. 5100 22. 1024
2. 810 9. 1280 16. 660 23. 330
3. 450 10. 380 17. 490 24. 484
4. 0 11. 12030 18. −10030 25. 2450
5. 1210 12. 0 19. 384 26. 870
6. −660 13. 441 20. 14.4 27. 256
7. 16.9 14. 960 21. 196 28. 3540
157
29. −196 40. 14280 51. 910 61. (*) 2050 − 2266
30. 289 41. 1560 52. (*) 1825 − 2019 62. 1584
31. −289 42. −324 53. 3300 63. (*) 4698 − 5194
32. 1080 43. 3300

54. 720 64. 2250
33. 4830 44. 9900

55. (*) 12108
65. 4662
13384
34. 2002 45. 0
66. −588
56. (*) 9076 − 10032
35. 1210 46. −1210
57. 1056 67. (*) 9516 − 10518

36. 2160 47. 2775
58. 11990 68. 2100

37. 6320 48. 540
38. 1188 49. 576 59. (*) 8015 − 8859 69. 3774
39. 363 50. 16770 60. 672 70. (*) 3659 − 4045
Problem Set 1.3.3:
1. 2521 4. 1301
3. 481 6. 12961
2. 313 5. 3281
Problem Set 1.3.4:
1. 462 6. 124 11. 6380 16. 1680
2. 1920 7. 1920 12. 120 17. 880
3. 380 8. 12960 13. 2280 18. 450
4. 128 9. 550 14. 3360 19. 550
5. 160 10. 3760 15. 128 20. 128
158
21. 5300 22. 2300
Problem Set 1.3.5:
1. 9090 3. 5353 5. 4141 7. 6161
2. 505 4. 6868 6. 4545 8. 5858
Problem Set 1.3.6:
1. 145 13. −172 25. 170 37. 78
2. 140 14. 11.2 26. 438 38. −238
3. −115 15. −5.07 27. −363

39. −900
4. 133 16. 254 28. 302

40. 168
5. 272 17. 540 29. 720

41. 1014
6. −109 18. 218 30. 218
42. −1540
7. 264 19. 300 31. −1560
43. −616
8. 175 20. −30 32. −70
44. 715
9. −97 21. −94 33. −170
45. −272
10. 193 22. 525 34. 288
11. 153 23. 326 35. 105 46. 672
12. 107 24. 321 36. 18 47. 894
Problem Set 1.3.7:
159
1. 1575 3. 2275 5. 2925 7. 6175
2. 4275 4. 4675 6. 2975 8. 5225
Problem Set 1.3.8:
1 1 1 24. 41
1. 35 8. 245 16. 131
16 121 64
4 2 4
2 9. 137 17. 138
2. 72 25 3 25. 44
9 9
10. 53.04 18. 131

4 26. 79.04
3. 12
25
4 4
11. 40 19. 64
1 9 9 7
4. 29 27. 21
6 1 4 15
12. 101 20. 160
49 9
1
5. 101 1 28. 5
16 13. 53 1
25 21. 351
49
1
6. 139 1 29. 5.7
36 14. 131 22. 9
25
1 4 24
7. 75 15. 29 23. 9.03 30. 12
36 25 25
Problem Set 1.3.9:
9 9 17 11
1. 8 7. 28 13. − 19. −3
14 34 18 15
9 9 16
2. 19 8. 8 14. −2 8
25 17 25 20. −2
17
16 9 8
3. 15 9. 11 15. −2
23 14 17 13
21. −1
25 9 16 17
4. 22 10. 23 16. 30
32 16 21
9
9 16 7 22. 67
5. 13 11. 13 17. −2 38
19 17 16
25 13 11 11
6. 24 12. − 18. − 23. −1
34 14 12 15
160
Problem Set 1.3.10:
1. (*) 2553 − 2823 11. (*) 97917 − 21. (*) 157586 − 31. (*) 28260 − 31236
108225 174174
2. (*) 25356 − 28026 32. (*) 3513 − 3883

12. (*) 760958 − 22. (*) 7524 − 8316
841060
3. (*) 3149 − 3481 33. (*) 53437500 −
23. (*) 34108 − 37700 59062500
13. (*) 31005 − 34269
4. (*) 5958 − 6586
24. (*) 523488 − 34. (*) 25650 − 28350
578592
14. (*) 9771 − 10801
5. (*) 106799 −
35. (*) 95000 −
118041
25. (*) 25536 − 28224 105000
15. (*) 80548 − 89028
6. (*) 34108 − 37700
26. (*) 298452 − 36. (*) 475089 −
16. (*) 65555 − 72457 329868 525099
7. (*) 39398 − 43545
17. (*) 60693 − 67083 27. (*) 260646 − 37. (*) 3910 − 4322
288084
8. (*) 126445 −
139755 38. (*) 150292 −
18. (*) 60762 − 67158
28. (*) 1740 − 1924 166114
9. (*) 14630 − 16170
19. (*) 2048 − 2265 29. (*) 8257 − 9127 39. 2592
10. (*) 624255 −
689967 20. (*) 86184 − 95256 30. (*) 5728 − 6332 40. (*) 3406 − 3766
Problem Set 1.4.1:
1. 0 3. 3 5. 0 7. 4
2. 2 4. 3 6. 5
Problem Set 1.4.2:
1. 2 4. 7
3. 0 6. 8
2. 5 5. 2
Problem Set 1.4.3:
161
1. 8 6. 8
4. 9 9. 4
2. 5 7. 5
5. 0 10. 4
3. 9 8. 7
Problem Set 1.4.4:
1. 4 5. 0 9. 7 13. 0
2. 2 6. 3 10. 0
14. 2
3. 2 7. 0 11. 6
4. 6 8. 6 12. 7 15. 6
Problem Set 1.4.5:
1. 1 8. 0 15. 2 22. 3
2. 3 9. 4 16. 3 23. 6
3. 0 10. 1 17. 3 24. 2
4. 2 11. 2 18. 0 25. 3
5. 2 12. 5 19. 5 26. 2
6. 2 13. 2 20. 2 27. 2
7. 4 14. 2 21. 4 28. 2
Problem Set 1.4.6:
1 5 2 2
1. 39 3. 222 5. 50 7. 1371
3 9 3 3
8 2 1
2. 55 4. 35 6. 137 8. 55
9 3 9
162
Problem Set 1.4.7:
1. 2.5% 6. .075 11. 27.5% 16. 6.25%

11
1 17.
2. 7.5% 7. 1 % 12. .045 40
4
3. 17.5% 13. 18 18. .32

8. 20%
4. 52.5% 9. 17.5% 14. .025 19. 8%
5. 1.075 10. 40 15. 435% 20. .0081
Problem Set 1.5.1:
1. 198 6. 2997
4. 495 9. −198
2. −396 7. −3996
5. 99 10. −4995
3. 1998 8. −999
Problem Set 1.5.2:
1 4 8 1
1. −1 5. −1 9. −1 13. −8
6 7 9 12
14 7 1 1
2. −1 6. − 10. −7 14. −6
15 8 14 12
1 1 1
3. −2 7. −4 11. −3 15. −4
8 6 2
17 1 5 3
4. −1 8. −5 12. −1 16. −1
20 10 6 5
Problem Set 1.5.3:
4 1 3 1
1. 2. 3. 4. 1
21 24 40 6
Problem Set 1.5.4:
163
1 4 31 1
1. 2 6. 1 12. − 17. 3
156 143 35 156
36
1 7. 1 4 2
2. 2 91 13. 1 18. 1
30 255 35
1
8.
16 30 16 1
3. 2 14. 1 19. 1
285 4 165 132
9. 1
195
4 4 49
4. 15. 1 20.
15 10. 2 143 330
4 1 145
5. 1 11. 3 16. 1 21. −
35 210 154
Problem Set 1.5.5:
13 11 22 11
1. 7. 13. − 19.
252 584 435 448
9 9 13
2. 8. 14.
203 430 328
11
17 11 17 20. −
3. 9. − 15. 414
520 42 333
22 17 7
4. 10. 16. 11
915 900 165 21.
328
19 37 27
5. 11. − 17.
495 1620 784
19 11 19 18
6. 12. 18. 22.
1342 328 1342 979
Problem Set 2.1.1:
1. 784 6. 4.84 11. 324 16. 196
2. 10.24 7. 1156 12. 5.76 17. 441
3. 841 8. 289 13. 529 18. 576
4. 256 9. 529 14. 1024 19. 9.61
5. 961 10. 361 15. 484 20. 7.29
164
21. 784 27. (*) 972 − 1075 33. (*) 36495 − 40337 39. (*) 79344 − 87698
22. 1156 28. (*) 372 − 412 34. (*) 379 − 420 40. (*) 241 − 267
23. 676 29. −224 35. (*) 28227 − 31200

41. (*) 496 − 549
24. 289 30. .324 36. (*) 27132 − 29990

42. (*) 975 − 1078
25. 1089 31. (*) 14546 − 16078 37. (*) 9098 − 10057
43. (*) 184756 −
26. −27 32. (*) 7553 − 8349 38. (*) 13166 − 14553 204206
Problem Set 2.1.2:
1. 12 12. 512 1 32. −54

22.
2
2. 1331 13. 3375 1

23. 370 33.
2
3. 2744 24. −2
14. 1728 34. 225
4. −7 25. 1.2
5
15. 35. −217
4
5. 1728 26. 64000
16. 2197 36. (*) 169059 −
6. 4096 186855
27. 1331
17. 343
7. 2 37. 343000
28. 1.1
18. −11
8. 1331 38. (*) 1641486 −
29. (*) 692464 −
1814374
765356
19. 216
9. −1728
30. .9 39. (*) 2669363 −
10. 13 20. 3375 2950349
31. (*) 1682982 −

11. −9 21. (*) 1653 − 1828 1860140 40. 4096
Problem Set 2.1.3:
165
1. 160 10. −26 19. 7 28. 648000
2. −83 11. 81 20. −144 29. 98000
3. 32 12. 3200000 21. .081 30. 14400
4. 243 13. 729 22. 288 31. 21600
5. −61 14. .04 23. 29 32. 2025000
6. 3 15. 4000 24. (*) 61 − 69 33. 2500
7. 160 16. 2560000 25. 2.5 34. 64800
8. 98 17. (*) 3242 − 3584 26. 64000 35. 8100000
9. 40 18. 40000 27. 512000 36. 144000
Problem Set 2.1.4:
1 11. −.875 6 29. −.375

1. 20. 42 %
8 7
4
2. 220% 12. 275% 7 30. −
21. 77 % 3
9
5 1
3. .56 1 31. 7 %
13. 22. 7
9 2
5 7
4. 2 32.
8 14. 23. .56 16
3
5. 2.125 33. 15
16 9
15. − 24.
17 11
6. 1 34. 3
16. .46 4
25.
7. 60% 3 35. −.27
8
17. − 26. 43.75%
8. .125 9 36. 121
3 27. 176 7
9. .81 18. 37. −
8 18
4
10. 6.25% 19. .8 28. 28 % 38. 31.25%
7
166
39. 1331 47. 10021 55. 13.31 1
63.
14
3 1 1
40. 48. 8 % 56. 187 %
14 3 2 64. 2400
4 1
41. 8 49. 78 % 57.
7 16 65. .06875
4 3
42. 10 50. 800 58. 121 %
5 7 6
66. 92 %
3 3 7
43. 21 % 51. 1331 59.
7 7
2
1 3 67.
5 65
44. 52. 80 60.
14 3 80
1
11 68. 107 %
45. 6 53. 135 61. 7
1000
11 9 13 3
46. 54. 62. 69.
14 14 14 14
Problem Set 2.1.5:
1. 12012 12. 36036 23. 7070.7 34. 36
2. 54 13. 7 24. 121.121 35. (*) 712 − 788
3. 505.05 14. 1073 25. 35035 1

36.
3
4. 25025 15. 30030 26. 909.09 37. 6006
5. 70707 16. 70070 27. 505505 38. 49
6. 37 17. 999 28. 9009 39. 13
7. 20020 18. 55055 29. 1111.11 40. 48
8. 15015 19. 75075 30. 303303 41. 10010
9. 27027 20. 153153 31. 5005 42. 96
7
10. 29 21. 10010 32. 28 43. 256
9
11. 60 22. 18018 33. 7007 44. 11011
167
45. 9009 51. 90 8 63. 324
57. 32
9
46. 36036 4
52. 16 58. 81
9 64. 185
47. 7007 53. 11011 59. 74

65. 175
48. 60 54. 96 1
60. 789
3
2 2 66. 9009
49. 8 55. 24 61. 37
9 3
50. 9009 56. 147 62. 13013 67. 15015
Problem Set 2.1.6:
1. 2042 10. 2222 19. 1364 27. 20
2. 44 11. −89 20. 2006 28. 401
3. 2003 12. 2100

21. 556 29. 2997
4. 199 13. 999

22. 505 30. 11011
5. 1666 14. 534
23. 1530 31. 50175
6. 444 15. 2017
8
24. 66 32. 84
7. 277 16. 2007 9
8. 1459 17. 1664 25. 34 33. 22066
9. 999 18. 1666 26. 2005 34. 10.1
Problem Set 2.1.7:
1. 20 6. 6
4. 4 9. 12
2. 20 7. 20
5. 12 10. 20
3. 16 8. 6
168
Problem Set 2.1.8:
1. (*) 185 − 205 5. (*) 5052 − 5585 9. (*) 995 − 1100 13. (*) 5052 − 5585
2. (*) 683 − 756 6. (*) 342 − 379 10. (*) 664 − 734 14. (*) 493 − 546
3. (*) 51 − 58 7. (*) 1608 − 1778 11. (*) 15384 − 17005 15. (*) 46339 − 51218
4. (*) 290 − 322 8. (*) 7495 − 8285 12. (*) 1221 − 1350 16. (*) 524 − 581
Problem Set 2.1.9:
1. 22 6. 220 11. 30 16. 8
2. 126 7. 440 12. 10

17. 66
3. 4.5 8. 1760 13. 44
18. 22.5
4. 240 9. 81 14. .5
5. 132 10. 3520 15. 2160 19. 11
Problem Set 2.1.10:
1. 81 5. 27 9. 10000 13. 36
1
2. 1728 6. 9 10. 1
3
14. 3456
3. 81 7. 5184 11. 1.5
4. 3 8. 2.5 12. 1 15. 500
Problem Set 2.1.11:
1. 4 4. 693
3. 48 6. 308
2. 32 5. 154
169
7. 96 14. 37.5% 21. 2 28. 231
8. 16 15. 225% 22. 1.75

29. 63
3 23. 5
9. 16. 400%
8 30. 12
10. 6 17. 11 24. 3
31. 147
11. 2 18. 600% 25. 2.5
26. 112 32. 128

12. 50% 19. 37.5%
1
13. 400% 20. 1155 27. 33. 320
8
Problem Set 2.1.12:
1. 77 2. −40 3. 37
Problem Set 2.2.1.:
1. 132 10. 132 19. 143 28. 528
4 1
2. 231 11. 81 20. 29. 4
5 6
3. 169 12. 506 21. 117 30. 98
4. 123 13. 1.5 1 31. 126

22. 5
3
5. 18 14. 441 23. 2.5 32. 207
6. 240 15. 396 24. 108 33. 91
1
7. 100 16. 255 25. 462 34. 6
4
2 17. 4 2
8. 26. −13 35. 2
5 3
1
9. 96 18. −1 27. 264 36. 255
8
170
37. 147 45. 81 53. 37 61. 80
38. 98 46. 6 54. 3.2 62. 4.8
39. 1150 47. 294 55. (*) 179763 − 63. 77

198687
40. 16 48. 726 64. (*) 7866 − 8696

56. (*) 4138 − 4574
41. 264 49. 161 57. 11 65. 3
42. (*) 418 − 464 50. 273 58. 135 66. 16
43. 396 51. 168 59. 1.5 67. (*) 25863 − 28587
1
44. 242 52. 528 60. 9 68. (*) 1231 − 1361
3
Problem Set 2.2.2:
1. 750 6. 610 11. 372 16. 143
2. 372 7. 893 12. 114

17. 319
3. 514 8. 534 13. 88
18. 693
4. 660 9. 284 14. 6
5. 804 10. 304 15. 196 19. 748
Problem Set 2.2.3:
1. 3 6. 10 11. 36 16. 15
2. 9 7. 8 12. 56 17. 192
3. 96 8. 12 13. 20 18. 78
4. 4 9. 9 14. 42 19. 42
5. 10 10. 124 15. 5 20. 8
171
21. 56 25. 385 29. 54 33. 24
22. 70 26. 24 30. 35 34. 7
23. 7 27. 24 31. 160 35. 35
24. 55 28. 39 32. 7 36. 124
Problem Set 2.2.4:
1. 5 3. 5 5. 20 7. 2
2. 9 4. 27 6. 35 8. 14
Problem Set 2.2.5:
1. 140 3. 45 5. 120 7. 133
2. 108 4. 1080 6. 1440 8. 540
Problem Set 2.2.6:
1. 70 8. 51
5. 276 12. 66
2. 40 9. 45
6. 112 13. 36
3. 35 10. 66
7. 35 14. 18
4. 176 11. 78
Problem Set 2.2.7:
1. 9 3. 26 5. 6 7. 33
2. 40 4. 15 6. 8 8. 5
172
9. 15 11. 7 13. 9 15. 84
10. 6 12. 6 14. 8 16. 84
Problem Set 2.2.8:
√
1. 3 3. 2 3 5. 4 7. 3
2. 6 4. 12 6. 18 8. 9
Problem Set 2.2.9:
1. 726 6. 216
4. 96 9. 224
2. 144π 7. 512
5. 64
3. 27 8. 1728
Problem Set 2.2.10:
1. 60 7. 28 13. 6 18. 12
2. 10 8. 10
14. 24 19. 720
3. 20 9. 336
1 1
15. 20.
120 6
4. 35 10. 56
16. 6 21. 10
5. 840 11. 36
6. 30 12. 2 17. 4 22. 200
Problem Set 2.2.11:
1 8 3. 0
1. − 2.
2 3 1
5.
2
4. 1
173
6. −10 20. −1 1 47. 45
34.
3
1 √ 1
7. − 21. 108 2 48.
2 35. 2
2
8. −1 22. −1 3
36. −1 49. −
4
9. 10 23. −1 1
37. −1 50.
4
1 24. 45
10. 3 6
3 38. 51.
2 5
14
11. 112.5 25.
9 1
39. −1 52.
4
12. 36 26. 1
1 1
40. 53.
2 3
13. 0 27. 12
1
41. 0 54.
4
14. −1 28. −1
1
42. − 55. 4
15. 0 29. 2 3
1
1 43. 1 56.
16. 30. 15 2
2
1 3
44. − 57. −
17. 1 31. −4 3 4
3 1
18. −2 32. 3 45. − 58. −
4 4
1 1
19. −2 33. 225 46. − 59. 3
2 2
Problem Set 2.2.12:
1. 1 1 1
10. 14.
2 2
6. 68
1
2. 1 1
2 11. − 15.
3 4 4
1 7.
3. 4
2 1
1 12. 308 16.
1 8. − 2
4. − 2
2
1 1
3 9. 3 13. − 17.
5. 2 2
4
174
7 1
18. 23. −
25 2
1 1
1 21. − 26. −
19. 2 24. 1 2
2
1 22. 1 1 27. −2
20. 25.
4 2
Problem Set 2.2.13:
1. 4 4. 3 7. 5 1
10.
2
2. 5 5. 8 8. −2 11. 10π
1
3. 2 6. −3 9. 12. 2
6
Problem Set 2.2.14:
1. −9 2. −5 1
3. 1
4
Problem Set 2.2.15:
√
1. −2 4. 17
2 1
1 3. 4 6. −
2. − 3 5. 3
24 3
Problem Set 3.1.1:
1. 7 6. 315 11. 6 16. 102
2. 320 7. 12 12. 18 17. 216
3. 108 8. 285 13. 108 18. 84
4. 24 9. 13 14. 324 19. 432
5. 9 10. 364 15. 4 20. 420
175
21. 11 27. 180 33. 96 39. 14
22. 144 28. 42 34. 201

40. 720
23. 17 29. 288 35. 336
24. −260 30. 108 36. 63

41. 360
25. 160 31. 22 37. 144
26. 420 32. 693 38. −76 42. 168
Problem Set 3.1.3:
1. −64 6. 4 11. 128 16. −2
2. 1728 7. 32 12. 9
17. −3456
3. 0 8. 0 13. 96
18. 16
4. 8 9. 16 14. 1458
5. 64 10. 96 15. 2500 19. 16000
Problem Set 3.1.4:
3 3 1 21. 3
1. 8. − 14.
2 5 6
2. 9 1 15. −3
9. 3
4 22. −
2 4
3. 16. −2
3 2
10. −
3 1 1
4. −7 17. − 23. −
4 4
11. 0
5. 0 18. 2
5 24. 0
3 12.
6. − 2 19. 7
4
3
7. 3 13. 20. −36 25. −4
5
176
Problem Set 3.1.5:
1. 9 6. 7
4. 3 9. 6
2. 9 7. −1
5. 3
3. 6 8. −1
Problem Set 3.1.6:
1. 1224 1 2 18. 4
6. 12. 2
64 3
7. 289 4
2. 630.9 13. 19. 144
3
8. 29.2 14. 0
1
3. 20. 2
8
9. 2.5 15. −6
4. 2 21. 0
10. 324 16. 343
2
5. 11. 216 17. 13 22. 25
7
Problem Set 3.1.7:
1 8. 7 16. 1 24. 1
1.
9
9. −3 17. 6 25. −.5

2. 2
10. 1 18. 2 26. 0

3. 2
11. 3 19. 5 3
27.
4
4. 6
12. 1 20. 3 28. 243
5. −3
13. 3 21. 3 29. 1
4 1
6. 14. 1 22. 1 30. 4
3 2
8
7. 9 15. 23. 2 31. 2
3
177
32. 0 37. 0 42. 2 47. 8
3 43. 8 48. 1
33. 38. 8
2
1 49. 16
34. 0 39. 5 44.
16
1
35. −1.5 40. (*) 791 − 876 45. 9 50.
3
1
36. 22 41. .5 46. 12 51.
2
Problem Set 3.1.8:
1. 45 4. 78 7. 22 3
10.
4
2. 60 5. 36 8. 48 2
11.
3
3. 66 6. 28 9. 36 12. 40
Problem Set 3.1.9:
1. (*) 117 − 131 9. (*) 2407 − 2661 17. (*) 271 − 301 24. (*) 200220 −
221297
2. 94 10. (*) 887 − 981
18. (*) 486 − 539
25. (*) 26596 − 29397
3. (*) 145 − 161 11. (*) 496 − 549
19. (*) 831 − 919
4. (*) 172 − 191 12. (*) 186 − 207 26. (*) 197162 −
217917
20. (*) 270 − 299
5. (*) 2430 − 2686 13. (*) 170 − 189
21. (*) 296 − 328 27. (*) 217 − 241

6. 87 14. (*) 128 − 142
22. (*) 279 − 309 28. (*) 62366 − 68932

7. (*) 2368 − 2618 15. (*) 150 − 167
8. (*) 395 − 438 16. (*) 489 − 541 23. (*) 7276 − 8043 29. (*) 1258 − 1392
Problem Set 3.1.10:
178
1. 15 9. 1600 18. 50 27. 16 + 16i
2. 61 10. 1 19. −41 28. 1
11. −44 20. 7 12

3. −6 29.
13
12. 31 21. 0
4. 24 30. −64
13. 9 22. 41
5. 54 1
31.
5
14. 15 23. 3721
6. 48 32. 625
15. 53 24. −243
3 12
7. 16. −7 25. 4 33.
2 13
8. 25 17. −7 26. 0 34. 169
Problem Set 3.1.11:
4 7. 1 13. 1 19. 0
1. −
3
1 14. −5 20. 2
2. 2.5 8. 3
2
1 2
3. 9. −3 15. − 21. −1
3 3
4. 3 10. −4 16. 1 22. 7
7 7
5. − 11. 1 17. 23. 1
3 3
2
6. 12. −1 18. −2 24. 7
3
Problem Set 3.1.12:
1. 17 3. 65 5. 217 7. 26
2. 120 4. 91 6. 720 8. 256
179
9. 110 11. 101 13. 513 15. 45
10. 398 12. 46 14. 511 16. .25
Problem Set 3.1.13:
1 3 5 7
1. 9. 17. 25.
12 8 4 36
1 9 3
2. 10. 18.
18 8 5 1
26.
2
1 1 3
3. 11. 19.
6 3 2
1
1 7 1 27.
4. 12. 20. 3
7 29 18
9 5 1
5. 13. 21. 5
13 4 6 28.
6
4 5 1
6. 14. 22.
5 8 5
3
29.
13 3 5 4
7. 15. 23.
20 5 13
1 1 1 1
8. 16. 24. 30.
216 25 4 5
Problem Set 3.1.14:
1. 4 7. 4 13. 8 19. 15
2. 32 8. 5 14. 7 20. 15
3. 16 9. 4 15. 5 21. 1
4. 5 10. 5 16. 6
5. 1 11. 4 17. 4
6. 3 12. 2 18. 254
Problem Set 3.2.1:
180
1. 57 13. 404 25. 1355 37. 1331
2. 1230 14. 234 26. 9

38. 1414
3. 254 15. 1414 27. 443
39. 1234
4. 103 16. 27 28. 102
5. 102 17. 202 29. 1101 40. 2332
6. 312 18. 3210 30. 1011

41. 5
7. 1010 19. 2300 31. 2220
8. 11000 20. 333 32. 140 42. 32
9. 1010 21. 50 33. 104

43. 100
10. 1210 22. 72 34. 69

44. 38
11. 110 23. 10101 35. 10101
12. 21 24. 1101 36. 1323 45. 25
Problem Set 3.2.2:
17 35 15. .55
1. 10.
25 36
9
6.
19 16 124 16. .33
2. 11.
25 125
7
7. 24
57 12 12. 17. .74
3. 25
343
13
8. 9 18. .21
15 24 13.
4. 25
16
52
69 9. 14. .21 19. .42
5. 125
125
Problem Set 3.2.3:
181
1. 120 11. −44 21. 24 31. 64
2. 340 12. 606 22. 30

32. 1221
3. 10 13. 33 23. 22
33. 121
4. 341 14. 31 24. 142
5. 4 15. 1102 25. 21 34. 231
6. 115 16. 210 26. 104 35. 330
7. 181 17. 121 27. 1221

36. 222
8. 12 18. 143 28. 44
37. 124
9. 35 19. 143 29. 1331
10. 22 20. 220 30. 31 38. 1331
Problem Set 3.2.4:
1. 1120 5. 78 9. 101101 13. 23
2. 1122 6. 11100101 10. 100011010

14. 11011
3. 133 7. 11011 11. 110110
4. 11011 8. 223 12. 33 15. 123
Problem Set 3.2.6:
5 7 1
1. 4. 5.
6 6 8 4
3.
7
2. 3
Problem Set 3.3.2:
182
3 9 8 77
1. 4. 7. 10.
11 11 11 333
41 4 5 101
2. 5. 8. 11.
99 11 33 333
7 2 308 11
3. 6. 9. 12.
33 99 999 111
Problem Set 3.3.3:
7 29
1. 4.
30 90
19
29 3. 11
2. 90 5.
90 900
Problem Set 3.3.4:
211 151 269 106

1. 4. 7. 10.
990 494 990 495
61 203 233 61
2. 5. 8. 11.
495 990 990 495
229 311 47
3. 6. 9.
990 990 990
Problem Set 3.4:
1. 3 8. 5
5. 2 12. 1
2. 4 9. 2
6. 3 13. 3
3. 1 10. 4
7. 1 14. 9
4. 4 11. 2
Problem Set 3.5.1:
1. 719 4. −117
3. 40319
2. 5039 5. 152
183
Problem Set 3.5.2:
1 6. 600 11. −718 16. 35

1. 8
7
1 1
2. 10 7. 12. 32 17. −80
9 15
5 13. 4 18. 48
3. 6 8. −12
6
9 9. −113 14. 15 19. −9
4. 10
10
5. −100 10. 120 15. 25 20. 60
Problem Set 3.5.3:
1. 0 4. 6
3. 1 6. 0
2. 6 5. 3
Problem Set 3.6.1:
3 3. 4 5. 3 7. 0
1.
7
9
2. 2 4. 3 6. 27 8.
2
Problem Set 3.6.2:
1. −11 6. 24 11. 2 16. 19
2. 2 7. 252 12. −15 17. 6
3. 5 8. −32 13. 14 18. 18
4. 78 9. −48 14. 4 19. −7
5. −8 10. 18 15. 172 20. 1
184
21. 24 23. −68 25. 24 27. 84
22. 54 24. 54 26. −224 28. −2
Problem Set 3.6.3:
2 3 21. 4 18
1. 8 11. 31.
3 2 5
2 22. 4 3
2. 6 12. 8
3 32. 3
4
3. 15 13. 6 23. −3
33. 4
4. 18 2 24. 12
14.
3 34. 6
1 3
5. 4 15. 25.
3 5
35. 2
4 2 26. 84
6. 16.
7 3
36. 3
2 1 27. 2
7. 4 17. 5
3 3
2 37. 4
8. 12 18. 6 28.
3
3 1
9. 2 19. 9 29. 38. 1
4 2
10. 0 20. 2 30. 9 39. 6
Problem Set 4.1.1:
1. 5338 6. 1456 11. 6099 16. 9801
2. 13013 7. 5083 12. 4270 17. 7296
3. 6868 8. 5535 13. 12054 18. 13518
4. 4316 9. 7161 14. 10665 19. 3456
5. 10706 10. 15352 15. 4913 20. 23115
185
21. 32895
Problem Set 4.1.2:
1. 65932 11. 39483 21. 38688 31. 28248
2. 43264 12. 93636 22. 37942

32. 20520
3. 163216 13. 45066 23. 46144

33. 179568
4. 40382 14. 77665 24. 37023
5. 499849 15. 41616 25. 108332 34. 26964
6. 29213 16. 166464 26. 17365 35. 129480
7. 161604 17. 179568 27. 70503

36. 69015
8. 646416 18. 49731 28. 16074
37. 35482
9. 49374 19. 31161 29. 36693
10. 826281 20. 27772 30. 32680 38. 134550
Problem Set 4.1.3:
1. 5609 3. 2024 5. 38016 7. 112221
2. 13216 4. 4224 6. 13209 8. 50609
Problem Set 4.1.5:
1 1 1 8
1. 10 4. 11 7. 9 10. −2
4 7 17 17
2 1 13 7
2. 12 5. 25 8. − 11. −2
15 14 14 16
1 2 17 13
3. 17 6. 10 9. − 12. −1
10 13 18 17
186
8
13. −2
17
Problem Set 4.1.6:
1. 2450 4. 4830
3. 3540 6. 9900
2. 6320 5. 600
Problem Set 4.2.1:
1. 3.75 3. 176 5. 40 7. (*) 3147-3477
2. 480 4. .25 6. 120
Problem Set 4.2.3:
1. 3.5 6. 16
4. 0 9. 18
2. 16 7. 0
5. 5
3. 5.4 8. 14
Problem Set 4.2.4:
1. (*) 176 − 194 2. 7
Problem Set 4.3.1:
1. 122 4. 318
3. 548 6. 909
2. 133 5. 480
Problem Set 4.3.2:
187
1. 207 6. 514 11. 88 16. 750
2. 304 7. 550 12. 748

17. 517
3. 195 8. 372 13. 693
18. 407
4. 284 9. 114 14. 162
5. 304 10. 460 15. 660 19. 608
Problem Set 4.3.4:
1. 79 4. 273
3. 271
2. 104 5. 200
Problem Set 4.4.1:
2 4 5 1
1. 3. 5. − 7.
91 957 497 392
2 2 1 2
2. − 4. 6. − 8.
105 495 210 6225
Problem Set 4.4.2:
1. −2 4. 38
3. −8 6. 10
2. −10 5. 44
Problem Set 4.4.3:
2 8
1. 4.
3 21
5
3 3. 1
2. 7 5.
5 3
Problem Set 4.4.4:
188
5 1 10
1. 5 3. −1 5. 2
6 2 13
1
8. 1
3 7
6. 3
3 8 5
2. 3 4. −1 9. 12
19 13
7. −4
Problem Set 4.4.5:
1. 1 4 1 1
3. 1 5. 7.
5 5 5
2 2 2
2. 1 4. 6. 1 8.
5 13 5
Problem Set 4.4.6:
1. 1 7 3 7
3. 5. 7.
13 5 4
7
2. 4. 2 6. 1 8. 7
5
Problem Set 4.5.1:
1. 3 4. 15 7. 10 10. 70
2. 10 5. 6 8. 15 11. 35
3. 4 6. 10 9. 15
Problem Set 4.5.2:
1. 1777 6. 2444
4. 1888 9. 424
2. 393 7. 3444
5. 4777 10. 2888
3. 3777 8. 21515
Problem Set 4.5.3:
189
4 13
1. 10.
7 56
2
6. 17
1 3 1 15.
2. 11. 28
2 2
19
7.
3 30 11
3. 12. 1
7 21 16.
5 3
2 8. 13
4. 8 13.
3 24
10 3
7 9. 13 17.
5. 21 14. 10
8 14
Problem Set 4.5.4:
4 43
1. 8.
7 70
7 23
5. 12.
1 8 13 44
2. 9.
2 30
2 1
6. 13.
3 3 15 3
3. 10.
7 70
31 3
2 7. 31 14.
4. 50 11. 14
3 60
Problem Set 4.5.5:
1. 8 4. 3
3. 1
2. 6 5. 1
Problem Set 4.5.6:
1. 2 8. −4
5. −4 12. 6
2. 3 9. −4
4
6. −4 13. −
3. 0 10. 2 3
7. −6 14. 4
4. −2 11. −1
190

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What are some tricks for multiplying numbers?

What are some tricks for multiplying numbers?

What are some tricks for dividing numbers?

What are some tricks for dividing numbers?

Number Sense Tricks

∗ Revised and Edited : 12 April 2018

4 Tricks Added with 2018 Revision 128

137 × 32 = 428 × 74 = 996 × 47 = 654 × 45 =

443 × 39 = 739 × 50 = 247 × 87 = 732 × 66 =

554 × 77 = 324 × 11 = 111 × 54 = 885 × 78 =

34 × 655 = 52 × 532 = 33 × 334 = 45 × 301 =

543 × 543 = 606 × 212 = 657 × 322 = 543 × 230 =

111 × 121 = 422 × 943 = 342 × 542 = 789 × 359 =

239 × 795 = 123 × 543 = 683 × 429 = 222 × 796 =

Ones Digit of x is equal to the Ones Digit of 1353: 3

Ones Digit of x is equal to the Ones Digit of 46731: 1

Problem Set 1.2.1.:

4. 462 × 11 = 21. 297 ÷ 11 =

7. 1.1 × 2.3 = 24. 297 ÷ 11 =

9. 246 × 11 = 26. 111 × 35 =

10. 111 × 456 = 27. 111 × 345 =

11. 198 ÷ 11 = 28. 2003 × 111 =

12. 357 × 11 = 29. 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 =

13. 275 ÷ 11 = 30. 121 × 121 =

14. 321 × 111 = 31. 33 × 1111 =

15. 1.1 × .25 = 32. 22 × 32 =

16. 111 × 44 = 33. 36963 ÷ 111 =

17. 374 ÷ 11 = 34. 20.07 × 1.1 =

36. 13 × 121 = 49. (*) 32 × 64 × 16 ÷ 48 =

37. 27972 ÷ 111 =

56. 1111 × 123 =

46. 114 × 121 = 58. 121 × 124 =

47. 44 × 25 × 11 = 59. (*) 33 × 44 × 55 =

1.2.2 Multiplying by 101 Trick

1. 1234 × 101 = 6. 202 × 123 =

2. 10.1 × 234 = 7. If 6 balls cost $6.06, then 15 balls cost: $

3. 369 × 101 = 8. 404 × 1111 =

4. 34845 ÷ 101 = 9. (*) (48 + 53) × 151 =

1.2.3 Multiplying by 25 Trick

Problem Set 1.2.3

3. 2.6 × 2.5 = 9. 616 ÷ 25 =

4. 148 × 25 = 10. 2.5 × 40.4 =

5. 25 × 33 = 11. 1.1 ÷ 2.5 =

21. (*) 97531 ÷ 246 = 30. 11 × 18 × 25 =

1.2.4 Multiplying by 75 trick

Problem Set 1.2.4

5. (*) 443322 ÷ 751 =

8. (*) 7532 × 1468 13. 4800 ÷ 75 =

10. (*) 566472 ÷ 748 = 15. 8.8 × 7.5 × 1.1 =

1.2.5 Multiplying by Any Fraction of 100, 1000, etc...

Problem Set 1.2.5

1. 125 × 320 = 8. (*) 774447 ÷ 111 =

2. (*) 8333 × 24 = 9. (*) 62.5 × 3248 =

3. 138 ÷ 125 = 10. 12.5 × 480 =

4. (*) 57381 ÷ 128 = 11. (*) 17304 ÷ 118 =

5. (*) 245632 ÷ 111 = 12. (*) 87% of 5590 =

6. (*) 16667 ÷ 8333 × 555 = 13. (*) 457689 ÷ 111 =

7. 625 × 320 = 14. (*) 625 × 648 =

16. (*) 359954 ÷ 1111 = 37. (*) 95634 ÷ 278 =

17. 88 × 12.5 × .11 = 38. (*) 273849 ÷ 165 =

2. () 8333 × 24 = 9. () 62.5 × 3248 =

4. () 57381 ÷ 128 = 11. () 17304 ÷ 118 =

5. () 245632 ÷ 111 = 12. () 87% of 5590 =

6. () 16667 ÷ 8333 × 555 = 13. () 457689 ÷ 111 =

16. () 359954 ÷ 1111 = 37. () 95634 ÷ 278 =

18. () 719 × 875 = 39. () 5714.28 × 85 =

19. () 428571 × 22 = 40. () 9.08% of 443322 =

20. () 85714.2 ÷ 714.285 = 41. () 8333 × 23 =

22. () 6311 × 1241 = 43. () 714285 × .875 =

23. () 884422 ÷ 666 = 44. () 87% of 789 =

24. () 106.25% of 640 = 45. () 16667 × 49 =

25. () 6388 × 3.75 = 46. () 123456 ÷ 111 =

27. () 12.75 × 28300 ÷ 102 = 48. () 71984 × 1.371 =

29. () 857142 × 427 = 50. () 5714.28 × 83 =

31. () 16667 × 369 = 52. () 80520 ÷ 131 =

32. () 918576 ÷ 432 = 53. () 142.857 × 428.571 =

33. () 456789 ÷ 123 = 54. () 12509 × 635 =

34. () 106% of 319 = 55. () 1234 × 567 =

35. () 571428 × .875 = 56. () 789123 ÷ 456 =

58. () 1428.57 × 73 = 72. () 375 ÷ 833 × 555 =

62. () 833 × 612 = 76. () 54.5454 × 66.6 × 58 =

64. () 234678 ÷ 9111 = 78. () 818 ÷ 44 94 % × 12.5 =

65. () 428.571 × 87.5 = 79. () 62.5 ÷ 83.3 × 888 =

68. () 8333 × 12 12 % × .12 = 82. () 1250 ÷ 1666 × 4444 =

69. () 639 × 375 ÷ 28 = 83. () 85858 ÷ 585 =

70. () 6250 ÷ 8333 × 8888 = 84. () (51597 ÷ 147)2 =