If you haven’t done an exam in a while, you’ll need to start with the basics.

Here we're going to enhance your knowledge and help you think about things in the bigger picture so that you’ll be able to do you math quickly and correctly.

How to quickly add, subtract, multiply and divide:

• Round up to the nearest ‘full number’ and work backwards or forwards from that.
• You can ‘count up’ when figuring out subtraction or change.
• Understand common fractions: ½ = 0.5. ¼ = 25% (not 20%), 1/5 = 20%.

Let’s look at examples (see video for working out):

• 99 x 99
• What change do you get if you pay for an item that is $2.85 with a $10 bill?
• This month, Fred’s boss withheld 75% of Fred’s $2,000 salary. What amount did he receive? The amount Fred received is the difference between the salary and the amount withheld by Fred’s boss.

Here are more rules or short cuts to remember to help you calculate quickly and check that the answer you’re nominating is correct!

Number types:

Even/Odd

Even +/- Even = Even

Even +/- Odd = Odd

Odd +/- Odd = Even

Even x Even = Even

Even x Odd = Even

Odd x Odd = Odd

Prime – greater than 1 and only divisible by 1 or itself only.

Consecutive numbers

Factors Factors of 6 are? 2 and 3. Note well as this isn't shown in the video - that for every number, 1 and itself is a factor. So for 6, a factor of it is also 1 & 6 because 1 x 6 = 6. For 7, it's 1 & 7 because 1 x 7 = 7. 7 is a prime number so it can only be factorised once - by itself and 1.

Multiples Multiples of 6 are? 12, 18, 24.

Negative and Positive numbers

1. - and + = -
2. - and - = +
3. + and + = +

• If there are 2 signs near each other, change to 1 sign using above rules.
• If adding 2 numbers with the same sign, keep the sign and add the numbers.
• If adding numbers with opposite sign, keep the sign of the number furthest from zero then subtract the numbers ignoring the sign.
• To minus 2 numbers, change minus sign to addition and change the sign of the number being subtracted to its opposite
• Multiplying and dividing is the same and follows rules 1 to 3 in determining the end sign.

There is an order in which operations should be done which follows this rule.

B rackets O ver D ivisio n M ultiplication A ddition S ubtraction

Let's go through some examples now:

-(-4)^ 2

A -16 B -12 C 16 D 8 E None of these

Using the addition pyramid, the number in the box between 5 and 15 at the fourth layer will be

A 15 B 8 C 10 D 20

The number in the box between 1 and 2 at the second layer will be

A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3

Which one of the following is a multiple of 2

A 295 B 459 C 716 D 983

-2 + -3 x 2 - -4 = ?

Key Rules to remember:

• Brackets Over Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction
• The different types of numbers and their rules
  • Odd/Even
  • Prime
  • Consecutive
  • Factors
  • Multiples
  • Negative and Positive Numbers

Now it's time to do your assignment.

1. Download the assignment questions here.
2. Print it out or if you want to do it electronically, save it.
3. Complete the questions to it.
4. Then check the solutions on the video below. The answer key is also on the final page of your downloaded assignment questions.

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