A Handy SAT Math Shortcut – N2 – 1
Many of us have a pretty good sense of what the squares of the first 15 integers are. Sure, you might be a bit shaky on ‘13’ and ‘14’ but you should be comfortable with the rest. Just to be sure, I’ll reproduce those below:
1^2 = 1
2^2 = 4
3^2 = 9
4^2 = 16
5^2 = 25
6^2 = 36
7^2 = 49
8^2 = 64
9^2 = 81
10^2 = 100
11^2 = 121
12^2 = 144
13^2 = 169
14^2 = 196
15^2 = 225
Here are more squares students tend to know:
16^2 = 256
20^2 = 400
25^2 = 625
30^2 = 900
(If you know all these, that’s pretty solid! You don’t have to memorize anymore.)
Why did I even bring this up in the first place? Well, I have a cool mental math shortcut. Assuming you know the above, you also know the following:
11 x 13, 14 x 16, 15×17 and even the crazy 29×31.
How is that possible?
Well, what if I told you that n^2 – 1 = (n – 1)(n + 1)
Big deal, you say. You already know basic algebra? And what does this have to do with squares?
Well, let’s say n = 20.
See, by knowing that 20^2 = 400, then the product of one integer less than 20—the number 19—and one integer greater than 20—the number 21—will be 400-1, which equals 399.
Try it with any of the numbers above. For instance, we know that 12^2 = 144. Therefore, 11 x 13 = 143.
29 x 31?
Well, what’s 30^2 – 1.
Just like that, voila! You’ve doubled your knowledge of squares above.
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