Can you do mathematics calculations without an calculator ?

India
November 30, 2011 5:17am CST
Most of my friends including me can do simple calculations like addition, subtraction and other calculation from our mind itself but it is really difficult when the number of digits increases. I have little friends who don't know how to do mental calculations by their own.Do you know any ways to solve it. Does abacus classes help them ? Do you have the ability to do mental calculations in your mind ?
1 person likes this
15 responses
@thatgirl13 (7294)
• South Korea
30 Nov 11
Well if the numbers aren't too big I can do them in my head. if not, i try to do it in the air with my finger lol it works though hehe..
1 person likes this
• India
30 Nov 11
So you mean that you are good at maths?
• Philippines
1 Dec 11
@thatgirl13, I also do that, write those numbers in the air as if we I can read it. Haha!
• India
1 Dec 11
Which means that you both are having good mental thinking skill. right? Can you please tell to help my friends ?
• United States
2 Dec 11
Only if one keeps it in the 'duh!!' range. Any math beyond simple is beyond me. Enjoy!
• India
2 Dec 11
Do you think that abacus classes will solve the problems ? Does any of your friends goes for these types of classes ?
@lampar (7584)
• United States
30 Nov 11
When i do calculation, i don't need calculator, all i need is a pencil and piece of paper; an abacus will come in handy for me when dealing with big number. Calculator is nice to have when i am in a hurry and too lazy to use my brain after a hard day work.
• India
1 Dec 11
So do you think that abacus classes will help my friend to do calculations easily ?
@vandana7 (98526)
• India
1 Dec 11
I am addicted Microsoft Excel. I cant do even 2+2. Seriously, I am trying to do restart so I make my vegetable vendor write the amounts and spend some time totalling it.
• India
4 Dec 11
What is vegetable vendor ?
@Strovek (868)
• Malaysia
1 Dec 11
I used to be able to but got lazy after using calculators. Abacus class helps but the main thing is practice.
• India
4 Dec 11
Do you used to Patrice maths at you home ? Do you you feel that maths is really tough ?
@Iemon1 (123)
• Singapore
1 Dec 11
I can't do very complicated calculations mentally. I feel that abacus classes do help children to improve their mental calculations.
• India
4 Dec 11
So, did you ever went to abacus classes ? Did it helped you ?
@urbandekay (18278)
1 Dec 11
Yes, basic calculations up to calculating the diagonal distance on a right angle triangle and simple quadratic equations, etc. Those that cannot do simply calculations are lame all the best urban
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
8 Jul 12
My ability to do mental calculations depends on the complexity of the problem. I do sometimes have to write things down in order to keep track of where I am. I think it is really important to know how to do math without using a calculator because then you can verify if the value the calculator gives you is close to right or totally wrong. When I was growing up, there weren't all the fancy calculators there are now and you had to be able to show HOW you got your answer. In fact, the algebra class that my niece is in she has to show all her work even though she got the answer using a calculator...and her class is all online! Thanks for sharing this!!!
@agent807 (751)
• United States
30 Nov 11
I do some calculations in my head, but what I end up doing with larger numbers is a bit of rounding to simplify big numbers then putting the rest back in (ex. rounding to the nearest ten hundred or thousand), then put the rest of the numbers back in by adding or subtracting. It's kind of hard to explain how this works, because when I do it my head, it all comes together so fast. Or I usually visualize myself writing it down by what I call 'sky writing'--- writing things out in the air with your finger if I am stumbling. My mind works in some really awkward ways.
• United States
2 Dec 11
Yes. Throughout high school and college, I wouldn't allow myself to bring my calculator out during classes or lectures. I'd do everything in my head. It normally revolved around functions, geometry, algebra, decimals, fractions. The best thing about it is that throughout high school especially, I was the only one in the class who did everything in my head, and yet I'd always be the first to raise my hand! I took pride in the fact that I could work things out in my head before people could process the same problems through their calculators. Everyone else I know has that poor grasp of mathematics that is sadly so common; my husband has me calculate the tips for him whenever we go out to eat, and he won't write down in a checkbook when he uses his debit card simply because he can't subtract numbers while in the checkout line. (I write checks, and I always update the balance in the checkout lane; I've never been in danger of holding up the line simply because I'm done before the cashier is.) My best friend needed help a few months back figuring out how many quarters she would get back from a drive thru if she gave them a five dollar bill for her drink and the quarters. Do I know any way to solve it? Revamp the school system. I learned the same math for each year upon each year from fifth grade until I graduated. Fortunately for me, I loved math so much that I bought some informational texts on algebra and geometry in middle school and would do problems in it for fun. If it weren't for that, I can say that two out of the five math teachers in my high school couldn't teach, and college professors were even worse. Students who should have been failed because of the math class were pushed forward like the space was desperately needed. English seems to be highly, highly stressed upon in any school I've ever gone to, and yet it's math that continues to plague people's lives. With text and the internet, people are forgetting what they've learned in grammar and spelling anyway; all that teaching in English does nothing for them now, and they still can't figure out a simple math problem. Other than that, if someone's still in school, I'd stress to them to do what I did. Force yourself to go without the calculator that the school says you need; you DON'T need it. If you push your mind to learn early, you'll find that your brain is the best calculator you have.
@RobtheRock (2433)
• United States
2 Dec 11
I have a book called Calculator's Cunning that shows how to caculate in my mind. When I taught adult education, I showed some students a fast way to multiply by 5 and 11. There's also a method of multiplying fast by using the distributive law which I don't remember. There's also another book I think I have that has those methods in it. So yes, I can do mental calculations in my head.
@deliar (609)
• Indonesia
3 Dec 11
i can do mathematics calculation without a calculator in limited number. i think, someone that can do that with a complex number is someone that has special ability. it is something difficult to calculate some number in our mind, just like our mind is full of by many things. need high concentrate and need genius IQ. i believe that someone could do that easily because they have special IQ, maybe above 130. i think there are some techniques that they use for it, and we can learn about this also,. but we will have lower limit than someone has higher IQ from us.
@ardoy0731 (7308)
• Philippines
30 Nov 11
I can mental calculations in basic computations and amounts.But if the operations and numbers are so complicated,I really have to use calculator to avoid mistakes in the result.
• India
1 Dec 11
What will help you to solve this problem ?
@sam023 (42)
30 Nov 11
yes i can it's been easy for me to calculate withoute machines since my early age. I guess it's a gift or just me training too much on mental calculation.
• India
1 Dec 11
Can you get all the sums having long extensions ? I mean the the calculations with large numbers.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
30 Nov 11
I'd like to think that I would have to have the ability. But I am not really sure. There have been many years since I have went out of my way to do math of any sort without a calculator. I never really liked math to be honest with you and it was a subject that I tended to do fairly well enough, all things considered, depending on the teacher. Still, I think that most of the time, even when I "showed my work", I had a trusty calculator right next to me. I guess that means that I'm not comfortable with doing calculations on my own. Such is life in the end. Math is never my strong suit, so I needed a little assistance to really get through the various mathematical equations throughout the years.