Mental calculation comprises arithmetical calculations using only the human brain, with no help

from any supplies (such as pencil and paper) or devices such as a calculator. People use mental
calculation when computing tools are not available, when it is faster than other means of calculation
(such as conventional educational institution methods), or even in a competitive context. Mental
calculation often involves the use of specific techniques devised for specific types of problems.
People with unusually high ability to perform mental calculations are called mental
calculators or lightning calculators.
Many of these techniques take advantage of or rely on the decimal numeral system. Usually, the
choice of radix is what determines which method or methods to use.

Methods and techniques[edit]

Casting out nines[edit]
Main article: Casting out nines
After applying an arithmetic operation to two operands and getting a result, the following procedure
can be used to improve confidence in the correctness of result:

1. Sum the digits of the first operand; any 9s (or sets of digits that add to 9) can be counted as
0.
2. If the resulting sum has two or more digits, sum those digits as in step one; repeat this step
until the resulting sum has only one digit.
3. Repeat steps one and two with the second operand. There are two one-digit numbers, one
condensed from the first operand and the other condensed from the second operand.
(These one-digit numbers are also the remainders you would end up with if you divided the
original operands by 9; mathematically speaking, they are the original operands modulo 9.)
4. Apply the originally specified operation to the two condensed operands, and then apply the
summing-of-digits procedure to the result of the operation.
5. Sum the digits of the result you originally obtained for the original calculation.
6. If the result of step 4 does not equal the result of step 5, then the original answer is wrong. If
the two results match, then the original answer may be right, though it is not guaranteed to
be.
Example

 Say that calculation results that 6338 × 79 equals 500702

1. Sum the digits of 6338: (6 + 3 = 9, so count that as 0) + 3 + 8 = 11

2. Iterate as needed: 1 + 1 = 2
3. Sum the digits of 79: 7 + (9 counted as 0) = 7
4. Perform the original operation on the condensed operands, and sum digits: 2 × 7 = 14; 1 + 4
=5
5. Sum the digits of 500702: 5 + 0 + 0 + (7 + 0 + 2 = 9, which counts as 0) = 5
6. 5 = 5, so there is a good chance that the prediction that 6338 × 79 equals 500702 is right.
The same procedure can be used with multiple operations, repeating steps 1 and 2 for each
operation.

Estimation[edit]
While checking the mental calculation, it is useful to think of it in terms of scaling. For example, when
dealing with large numbers, say 1531 × 19625, estimation instructs you to be aware of the number of
digits expected for the final value. A useful way of checking is to estimate. 1531 is around 1500, and
19625 is around 20000, so a result of around 20000 × 1500 (30000000) would be a good estimate
for the actual answer (30045875). So if the answer has too many digits, a mistake has been made.

Factors[edit]
When multiplying, a useful thing to remember is that the factors of the operands still remain. For
example, to say that 14 × 15 was 211 would be unreasonable. Since 15 is a multiple of 5, the
product should be as well. Likewise, 14 is a multiple of 2, so the product should be even.
Furthermore, any number which is a multiple of both 5 and 2 is necessarily a multiple of 10, and in
the decimal system would end with a 0. The correct answer is 210. It is a multiple of 10, 7 (the other
prime factor of 14) and 3 (the other prime factor of 15).

Calculating differences: a − b[edit]

Direct calculation[edit]
When the digits of b are all smaller than the corresponding digits of a, the calculation can be done
digit by digit. For example, evaluate 872 − 41 simply by subtracting 1 from 2 in the units place, and 4
from 7 in the tens place: 831.
Indirect calculation[edit]
When the above situation does not apply, the problem can sometimes be modified:

 If only one digit in b is larger than its corresponding digit in a, diminish the offending digit
in b until it is equal to its corresponding digit in a. Then subtract further the amount b was
diminished by from a. For example, to calculate 872 − 92, turn the problem into 872 − 72 = 800.
Then subtract 20 from 800: 780.
 If more than one digit in b is larger than its corresponding digit in a, it may be easier to find how
much must be added to b to get a. For example, to calculate 8192 − 732, add 8 to 732 (resulting
in 740), then add 60 (to get 800), then 200 (for 1000). Next, add 192 to arrive at 1192, and,
finally, add 7000 to get 8192. Our final answer is 7460.
 Another useful technique is rounding off one of the digits (Either the larger digit or the smaller
digit to the nearest number preferably containing a single non-zero digit). For example, to
calculate 8192 - 732, round off 732 to 1000 by adding 268 (We can find the value 268 by quickly
subtracting 732 from 1000 mentally. Our brain finds it easier in dealing with rounded figures.) to
it. Then subtract 1000 from 8192 and obtain 7192 as the answer. Now add 268 to 7192 to obtain
7460 as the answer.
 Alternatively exchange numbers to round off figures as in the given problem. For example, For
calculating 8192 - 732 one can simply add 268 to both sides resulting in 8460 - 1000, which is
easier to calculate, resulting in 7460.
 One needs to be prudent in selecting which number to be rounded off. For calculating 8192 -
732 we can round off 8192 to 9000 by adding 808. Then calculate 9000-732 resulting in 8268.
Then subtract 808 from 8268 to get 7460 as our answer. But as it can observed, this makes the
calculations difficult and lengthy.
 We may also perform the calculation in the traditional way but in a smart manner. For calculating
8192 - 732, eliminate the 2 in units place i.e. replace them with 0. Then subtract 3 from 9
yielding in 6. Finally subtract 7 from 81 yielding in 74. Then rearrange the pieces to get 7460 as
the answer
 It might be easier to start from the left (the big numbers) first.
You may guess what is needed, and accumulate your guesses. Your guess is good as long as you
haven't gone beyond the "target" number. 8192 − 732, mentally, you want to add 8000 but that
would be too much, so add 7000, then 700 to 1100, is 400 (so far we have 7400), and 32 to 92 can
easily be recognized as 60. The result is 7460.
Look-ahead borrow method[edit]
This method can be used to subtract numbers left to right, and if all that is required is to read the
result aloud, it requires little of the user's memory even to subtract numbers of arbitrary size.
One place at a time is handled, left to right.

Example:

4075
− 1844
------

Thousands: 4 − 1 = 3, look to right, 075 < 844, need to borrow.

3 − 1 = 2, say "Two thousand".
We are performing 3 - 1 rather than 4 - 1 because the column to
the right is
going to borrow from the thousands place.

Hundreds: 0 − 8 = negative numbers not allowed here.

We are going to increase this place by using the number we
borrowed from the
column to the left. Therefore:
10 − 8 = 2. It's 10 rather than 0, because we borrowed from the
Thousands
place. 75 > 44 so no need to borrow,
say "two hundred"

Tens: 7 − 4 = 3, 5 > 4, so 5-4=1

Hence the result is 2231