There's a trick for multiplying numbers that goes back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Here are the steps to do it:
- Take the first number you're multiplying and cut it in half, writing it on the line below the original math and ignoring any fraction left over. Then take the other number, double it, and write it down on the same line.
- Keep adding rows by repeating the first step until you reach the number 1 and complete the final line.
- For any row whose first value is an even number, cross out the entire row.
- Add up the second numbers, the ones you've been doubling, for all the remaining rows. The resulting sum is the product of multiplication!
Different variations of this trick have been done since ancient Egyptians first came up with what might be the original version of it. In the following Numberphile video, Johnny Ball reveals the magic behind how the trick works, which involves secretly converting the first number you're multiplying into its binary code.
Nobody tell Dan Brown about the Egyptian code!
Labels: math
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