Written by Train your brain to perform incredible mathematical feats almost effortlessly with these amazing maths tricks that will make your friends think you’re a genius!
Learn a couple of party tricks and some mental mathematics shortcuts that’ll have you multiplying big numbers almost faster than you can type them into a calculator.
All you need is a willing volunteer and a calculator and you’ll soon be the smartest person in the room!
Easy Maths Party Tricks
ALWAYS 1089
Write 1089 on a piece of paper, fold it up and give it to a friend.
Ask the friend to write down a 3 digit number where the first and last numbers are different. eg. 345
Ask them to reverse the number and subtract the smaller number from the bigger number.
543 – 345 = 198
Tell them to reverse the result and add it to the total from step 2.
891 + 198 = 1089
The answer should be 1089!
Magical Multiplying
Ask a friend to think of a 3 digit number.
Ask the same friend to multiply the number by 7, 11 and 13.
??? x 7 x 11 x 13
Ask them to tell you the answer. You know the original number they chose as it is repeated twice in the answer!
123 x 7 x 11 x 13 =123,123
Mental Mathematic Shortcuts
Multiply by 9 using your hands
This simple trick only works for the 9 times table up to 9 x 10.
Hold up your fingers in front of you.
To calcuate 9 x 3, put down the third finger on your left hand.
Count the fingers to the left of the folded finger, this is the first digit of the answer.
Count the fingers to the right of the folded finger, this is the second digit of the answer.
9 x 3 = 27
Multiply by 11
Multiplying any number 11 is simple with this clever trick.
Let’s use 25 x 11 as an example.
Add the two digits together. 2 +5 = 7
Place the 7 between the 2 and the 5.
The answer is 275.
It is slightly trickier when the sum of the numbers is 10 or more.
If we use 57 x 11 as an example, all you need to do is carry the first digit ovee to the answer.
5 + 7 = 12
The answer is ( 5 + 1 ) 27 – 627
Multiply any number by 5 in 3 seconds
Multiplying by 5 sounds easy, but can get tricky once you hit the big numbers. This hack makes it easy!
Instead of multiplying by 5, divide by 2 and multiply by 10.
As an example, lets use 66.
66/2 = 33
33 x 10 = 330
Last Updated on March 11, 2026 by Emma Vanstone
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