Question

Describe two different ways that you could find the product of 8 times 977 using mental math. Find the product and explain why your methods work

Answer 1

`8 * 977 = 8 * (1000 - 23) = 8000 - 8(23) = 8000 - 8(25-2) = 8000 - 200 + 16 = 7816`

`8 * 977 = 8 * (975 + 2) = 16 + 8 * 900 + 8 * 75 = 16 + 7200 + 24 * 25 = 7216 + 600 = 7816`

Why does it work? Mostly the distributive law.