Final answer:
By using the distributive property, 8 x 27 can be mentally calculated as (8 x 20) + (8 x 7), which equals 160 + 56, resulting in the answer of 216.
Step-by-step explanation:
When we use the distributive property of multiplication over addition, we split the multiplication into smaller, more manageable parts that can often be done using mental math. Consider the expression 8 x 27. One way to simplify this using the distributive property is to split 27 into 20 and 7. Then, we solve each part separately:
Then, we add these two products together:
160 + 56 = 216
So, 8 x 27 equals 216 when using the distributive property and mental math techniques. As demonstrated, math provides many paths to the same answer, which can be very helpful in mental calculations and checking the correctness of our work.