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Comment by mratzloff

When calculating in my head or on paper, I value quick estimations moving to greater refinement. Common Core math seems somewhat similar to this.

I never subtract, only add up from low to high. If the two numbers have the same number of differing digits, I move from most significant digit to least: 73-57=10+6. If they cross a round number threshold greater than 10s, I get to a convenient base first: 2018-1995=5+18; 173-57=43+73=110+6.

For multiplication, I do something similar: 6x57=300+42; 42x23=(42x20=800+40)+(42x3=120+6).

For division in my head, I use a kind of binary search to get a quick estimate and then refine it. 846/42=42x10? 42x20+6. 20r6. 6/42=1/7. 0.15x7>1, 0.14x7<1. 20.14.

From my understanding, the Common Core approach to math is much closer to this approach I developed intuitively than the traditional methods. I'm sure many others developed similar approaches. If I want an answer accurate to more than two decimal places, or if the math gets too complicated to keep in my head, I just use a calculator.

parent mratzloff 8 years ago

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