20 Important Facts about Mental Math Tests with Practice Questions and Answers

This post provides detailed information on the mental math test to help increase your knowledge about it.

It also provides practice questions and answers to get you familiar with the mental math test, and to help you prepare effectively for it.

What is Mental Math Test?

Mental Math test is a test featured in many numeracy tests. Several people see this math test as hectic, and it can take a lot of practice answering questions both quickly and accurately.

This form of test requires solid practice so as to be able to learn and recognize patterns, and also solve problems faster.

To achieve this, learn to practice as many calculations as you can.

Either directly or indirectly, mental math is typically part of aptitude tests and psychometric tests.

For that reason, the trait becomes one of the most important skills to develop.

Getting the fundamental aspect of mental math will help you in each math or numerical reasoning test you sit for.

For this reason, a mental math test becomes vital to practice prior to taking any serious test.

20 Important Facts about Mental Math Tests you need to Know

Here are important information and facts about the mental math test you need to know to help you to prepare effectively for it:

1. How does Mental Math work?

Mental math, or mental calculation, was created to perform arithmetic calculations without the support of supplies or tools.

Metal math is performed completely in one’s head as opposed to using a calculator, or paper and pencil.

Mental math is used in the absence of computation aides for math practice, showing off, or participation in mental math competitions.

Basic arithmetic is used by most people every day to perform mental calculation.

This helps to reduce the rate of people that are not able to calculate mentally, which is becoming a serious obstacle to a lot of common tasks.

Mental math is the capacity to use simple memorized math facts to perform difficult math problems.

2. Mental math in U.S. Schools

Mental calculation can be learned in U.S. schools only for the most basic arithmetic, including multiplication of two numbers 0 and 12 and single-digit additions.

Solving addition problems that involve multiple digits requires you to learn to add columns of digits from right to left, and carry the tens digit if the column sum is more than 9.

3. Using mental math tricks to solve mental calculation

A lot of mental math tricks are detailed to specific numbers or categories of problems, typically reliant on the base of the number system utilized.

For instance, in the decimal numeral system, it is insignificantly simple to multiply by 10 as you have to just add a 0 to the end of the number.

However, since the base is 16 instead of 10, this method wouldn’t work in the hexadecimal numerical system.

4. Mental math is different from the memorization of math facts

Mental math is not the same as remembering math facts like multiplication tables.

To make mental math easier, learn to apply memorized answers to simple math problems.

However, performing math in your head requires both memorized facts and the manipulation of numbers and operations to resolve issues.

When skill and memory are combined you can solve far more difficult math questions than can be answered with already-remembered math facts.

5. Mental Math Test can turn you into a human calculator

This can’t be possible without adequate practice. People began to call Scott Flansgurg the human calculator after he had proven to be faster than a real calculator.

Scott also stated several times that he has a system for all kinds of calculations.

He became perfect through hours of practice and gained more of these skills by even more practice.

Just give this a try, persist with it, and you’ll observe improvement soon enough.

6. Train yourself to be skilled at Mental Math

Mathtrainerorg is a web app that performs like a latest version. You can go on to use the app for learning without having to download and install it on your computer or phone or even installing any new software.

Updates are much easier on this app; you don’t need to keep downloading endless updates. A web app can be accessed from any device that has an internet connection and a good web browser.

The recommended browser for the best math training is Google Chrome because it supports the latest web technologies.

7. Improving your mental math skills and abilities

For an advantage over certain circumstances, you need to possess the ability to quickly perform mental calculations.

Improving your mental math skills will inspire your mind, and develop better number sense and insight for measuring the world around you.

You will build up your basis for learning more advanced math topics if you keep practicing mental calculations.

8. Benefits of improving your mental math skills

There are a lot of benefits to improving your mental math skills. Educated people are expected to have the capacity to perform simple arithmetic without using a calculator.

Failure to do so will mirror your incapability.

The ability to perform mental math is even very much considered in many scientific and technical circles.

You need to be well-practiced in mental calculation to impress your social group or colleagues.

Mental calculation speed will often have a direct impact on your math and science test scores if you are a student.

At all grade levels, it is not enough to develop the knowledge on how to solve math problems when tests have a time limit on them.

Those with the highest scores are able to answer questions both accurately and competently.

Improving your mental math skills will benefit your academic career as a student.

9. Calculating in your head is even faster than with a device

It’s often faster to calculate the solution to an arithmetic problem in your head than using a device to work out your answer.

You can save time looking for a device to use when you have already trained your brain to solve basic math problems.

You can rely on mental math when calculation devices are not accessible.

We rarely find ourselves without access to our cell phones or other proficient devices even with the conveniences of modern life.

But in a situation where calculation devices are not available, mental math can also be relied upon.

Having access to a cell even with the conveniences of modern life phone or other capable devices occasionally happens.

You always have your brain that is skilled in mental math available to you.

To conclude it all, you can always handle quick estimates and sanity inspections on outcomes gotten from calculators.

There is always the risk of wrongly entering the problem in the computer, although computers are tremendously dependable in solving math problems.

You will develop an instinct for whether the results of calculators make sense by improving at mental math.

10. Mental math is needed for estimation

To avoid using calculators always, the ability to estimate is really often enough.

Estimation is becoming more and more a valuable skill in several industries as the use of computers is turning widespread.

There are several scenarios when difficult math will finally be needed, but the first-time estimate is required fast as the most important increase in productivity outcome.

11. Getting a math trainer can be beneficial

“Widespread proof that brain-training interventions improve performance on the trained tasks” came with a study found in 2016.

So, you will improve your performance over time when you start training your brain to answer mental math questions.

You need a math trainer for the best math skills; someone who is compatible with learners at various skill levels to guide them to the next level.

Through careful assessments, a math trainer will be able to know your strengths and weaknesses.

Learning mental skills from a qualified math trainer will be a perfect and rewarding journey to a greater successful calculation height.

12. Mental math worksheets

Mental math worksheets are selected to help you practice your number and math skills better.

You can use the sheets as a test or revision practice, or as part of a weekly quiz to assist in reinforcing skills.

As an oral and mental starter, the sheets can be used to get the brains functioning properly.

One of the most useful ways that these sheets can be used is to get kids to work in pairs, talking about the questions as they work through them.

To practice a range of math skills, the questions have been designed from numbers to geometry and measurement facts, including spending time and money.

In each quiz, the questions are slightly harder as the quizzes are in order of difficulty.

13. Year six mental math tests

Year 6 Mental Math Worksheets consist of a wide collection of diverse questions and math skills.

Each sheet consists of 18 questions and is offered with an answer sheet. As you progress through the sheets the level of difficulty gets more complex.

The topics covered in year 6 mental math worksheets include:

• Mental math including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
• Geometry questions designed for 2d and 3d shape properties
• Time questions with date and calendar questions
• Fraction, decimal, and percentage questions
• Place value questions up to 10000
• Ratio and proportion questions
• Missing fact questions
• Measures problems
• Money questions
• Word problems.

14. Ten math concepts you can’t overlook

Do you want to know these ten math concepts? Look below for the tips:

I. Sets and set theory (A set is a collection of objects while objects can be defined as people, jellybeans, shoes, bobcats, etc.)
II. Prime numbers go forever (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, etc.)
III. The concepts of zero (simply a way to express nothing mathematically, but it’s actually something)
IV. Knowledge of pie (pi π) (approximate value of π ≈ 3.1415926535…)
V. Equality in mathematics (when one thing is mathematically the same as another)
VI. Bringing algebra and geometry together (algebra means the study of equations while geometry simply implies the study of figures in space or on the plane)
VII. The function (a mathematical machine that takes in one number called the input and gives back exactly one other number called the output) PlusOne (2) = 3 and PlusOne = (100) = 101
VIII. Infinity (∞)
IX. Every point on the number line stands for a number (e.g. This problem called Zeno’s Paradox was created by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea)
X. Imaginary numbers for your imagination (numbers that include the value i = √ – 1).

15. Adding and subtracting

You should consider adding and subtracting as the two vital skills required when taking a mental math test.

Learning all of your adding and subtracting facts up to 10 + 10 and 20 – 10 is a good way to improve your speed and accuracy in the addition and subtraction of numbers.

Avoid untidy layout to stop making your sums more difficult than they have to be as this becomes the most common mistake in mental math.

Therefore, to keep your layout neat here are a few things to do:

• Get enough of space and ensure your columns are obviously separated
• Ensure your dos are all between the same two columns if it’s a decimal sum, and fill in any missing zeros if you like to
• Ensure your entire numbers end in the last column if it’s not a decimal sum.

16. Multiplying and diving

You need to take a two-stage process when practicing multiplying and dividing.

You have to learn how to do the sums correctly and then learn how to perform them quickly.

As you practice multiplying and dividing, you will notice how faster you become.

Below are a few ways you can focus your practice on speeding up:

• Practice your time tables to get faster in your numeracy test
• Do easy sums or less complicated questions if you struggle to complete the difficult questions in a short period
• Give yourself longer than you get in a test to answer each question.

17. Multiplying and diving by ten

When you take your numeracy test, whether it’s to convert a unit, work out a percentage, or any one of a dozen other possibilities, you’ll have to multiply or divide something by a power of ten.

You might have heard that it’s really easy to multiply any number by ten – and, actually, by any power of ten, such as 100 or 1,000.

Have a look below at methods you can use to achieve that:

• Place a decimal point or dot after the last digit if your number doesn’t contain one in it
• When multiplying, count how many zeros are in the power of ten. For example, your count is 1 if you’re multiplying by 10; your count is 3 if it’s 1,000
• Move the dot with spaces to the right, but it’s all right if you go off the end of the number. You’ll be left with the answer if you just keep track of how many spaces you have left over and add those zeros to the end
• Count how many zeros are in the power of ten that you’re dividing. Your count is 1 if you’re dividing by 10; your count is 3 if it’s 1,000
• Move the dot with spaces to the left. It’s all right if you go off the start of the number, and take note of how many spaces you have left over and add those zeros to the front of the number.

18. Dividing by a decimal

You can make this sum simple if you can multiple and divide by ten:

• Multiply both numbers by ten if the second number is a decimal. You would simply get 4640 ÷ 0.2 in this example
• Repeat step 1 until the second number becomes a whole number, and you would get 46400 ÷ 2 after another step
• Perform the divide sum as usual, ending up with 23200 in this example.

That sounds a little odd. You got a bigger number as the answer, after you have divided by a number.

This merely occurs when a number that is smaller than one is divided.

19. Finding factors

When you are trying to cancel down ratios or fractions, finding factors becomes useful.

A factor is any number that is divisible by another number. For instance, 6 = 2 x 3, and two and three are both factors of 6.

Nevertheless, 4 is not a factor of 6 as 6 ÷ 4 doesn’t give a whole number.

Any number that is bigger than one has at least two factors.

What solidifies this fact is that 1 x the number makes the number; the number and 1 are both factors.

If you’re trying to simplify a fraction, being able to spot a few factors is really helpful.

Below are a few you can simply find:

• A number has two as a factor if it ends in 2, 4, 6, 8 or 0
• A number has five as a factor if it ends in 5 or 0
• A number has ten, two, and 5 as a factor if it ends in a zero
• A number has three as a factor if the digits in that number add up to a multiple of three. Therefore, 3 is a factor of 201 and 111
• A number has nine as a factor if the digits in that number add up to a multiple of nine. Therefore, 9 is a factor of 72 and 153.

20. How to master mental math

You can easily solve mental math questions by breaking each problem down.

The test is fast if you follow the right format. According to Arthur Benjamin, co-author of Secrets of Mental Math, “Don’t calculate from right to left as you would on paper, but rather from left to right. Also, try to practice often.”

These are a few things you should do in order to master mental math:

• Cut the puzzle into smaller parts

You can usually separate even the scariest of mental math problems into simple ones by adding and subtracting.

If you can calculate a ten percent tip, what about calculating a 15 percent tip?

The process involves taking the ten percent tip, cutting it in half, and adding it to the original.

Therefore, ten percent of the bill is $4 if the bill is $40 plus an addition of $2.

Now, $6 is the 15 percent of $40. The same rule applies to 17.5 percent.

• Beware of complements

The distance between a number and the nearest convenient round number, usually ending in zeros, is called a complement. It’s any number you add to reach 100, said Benjamin.

Therefore, 22 is the complement of 78. Ben says that 1234 minus 678 is confused on paper.

You can begin by over-subtracting 1234 minus 700 equals 534 and add back the compliment.

The number 22 was 700 above 678. Thus, you’ve turned a difficult subtraction problem into a simple addition problem, such as 534 plus 22 equals 556.

• Overcome and divide

The answer to a seven-digit number divided by a three-digit number is going to be a four-digit number or probably one more. Use the same trick when multiplying.

So, your answer is going to have four digits if you were asked to calculate 4,000,000 divided by 600. Four-sixths is the same as two-thirds, and this means about 0.667. You know your answer is going to be around 7,000 (6.666.667).

• Calculate square numbers fast

Do you need the trick to calculate square numbers quickly? What does 242 mean?

Move down four to the nearest easy number, being 20. Move up four to 28 to balance it. Therefore, 20 times 28 is the first calculation.

If two times with 28 you will get 56, when 0 is added to it you’ll obtain 560. Quite close.

All you have to do to get the final answer is add the square of the number you moved up and down.

In this case, it was four, and to get your answer it’s 576. To summarize it up, 24 times 24 = (20 x 28) + 4 x 4), which is 576.

• Take shortcuts whenever possible

There are shortcuts to get an answer quickly to certain types of problems. For you to multiply any number by 11, add the sum of its digits and then put it between your original numbers.

Working out 53 times 11 requires that five is added to three to get 583 as the answer. For you to square any two-digit number that ends in five, the answer will always stop in 25.

You will take the first digit and multiply that by its next higher digit.

Mental Math Tests Practice Questions and Answers

Here are sample questions and answers to help you in your preparation for the Mental Math Tests:

Question 1

Question 2

The correct answer is 52.

Question 3

How would you solve this addition problem?

Answer and explanation

You’d add the right column to obtain 12 if you were trained. You’d write the 2 under the right column and carry the 10 by writing a 1 above the left column since that’s two digits.

Finally, to obtain 52 as the answer you’d add the carried 1 and the two tens digits.

It’s best to add the columns from left to right if you want to solve an addition problem mentally.

You can add the first number, 14, to the tens digit of the second number, 30, to obtain 44.

Then you’d add the remaining digit of the second number, 8, to 44 to arrive at the answer, 52.

Conclusion

Mental math keeps your brain sharp and makes you as effective as possible. Practice will help you to learn recognized patterns and solve problems faster.

Metal math assists everybody in the development of mental study aides. To develop these, you will have to practice a lot of calculations and learn to recognize certain patterns, and be able to solve mental math problems instantly.

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