Q&A for How to Count to 99 on Your Fingers

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What are some finger-multiplying tricks?

David Jia
Math Tutor
David Jia is an Academic Tutor and the Founder of LA Math Tutoring, a private tutoring company based in Los Angeles, California. With over 10 years of teaching experience, David works with students of all ages and grades in various subjects, as well as college admissions counseling and test preparation for the SAT, ACT, ISEE, and more. After attaining a perfect 800 math score and a 690 English score on the SAT, David was awarded the Dickinson Scholarship from the University of Miami, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Additionally, David has worked as an instructor for online videos for textbook companies such as Larson Texts, Big Ideas Learning, and Big Ideas Math.

David Jia

Math Tutor

Expert Answer

Here's a trick for children when multiplying by nines: If you're multiplying a single digit by nine, use your fingers. For instance, if it's three times nine, hold down your third finger. The number of fingers to the left of the held-down finger represents the first digit of your answer. So, for example, you do three times nine, hold your third finger down, which means you still have two fingers on the left (representing the first digit, which is two), and then you have seven fingers on the right of it (representing the second digit, which is seven). Therefore, the answer is 27. This method works for all single digits multiplied by nine. It's a simple and visual way for children to quickly find the result.

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How do I do addition with this method?

Community Answer

This is like an abacus (Japanese soroban). The thumb is the heavenly beads, and the fingers are the earthly beads. It'll work as long as the answer is less than 100.

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How do you count triple digit numbers?

Avesta

Community Answer

You cannot. You'd need three hands. There is a very hard way, but it is not recommended as it will mix you up.

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Are other math problems, like multiplication and division possilbe?

CMOsborne

Community Answer

You can add 2 numbers and multiply 2 numbers by building off of the basic counting principles of the chisenbop method. Check out the Related Articles section for this article for possible examples.

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