Multiplication, denoted by the symbols 

 or ,[1] is the second basic operation of arithmetic.

Multiplication also combines two numbers into a single number, the product. The two original
numbers are called the multiplier and the multiplicand, mostly both are simply called factors.
Multiplication may be viewed as a scaling operation. If the numbers are imagined as lying in a line,
multiplication by a number greater than 1, say x, is the same as stretching everything away from 0
uniformly, in such a way that the number 1 itself is stretched to where x was. Similarly, multiplying by
a number less than 1 can be imagined as squeezing towards 0, in such a way that 1 goes to the
multiplicand.
Another view on multiplication of integer numbers (extendable to rationals but not very accessible for
real numbers) is by considering it as repeated addition. For example. 3 × 4 corresponds to either
adding 3 times a 4, or 4 times a 3, giving the same result. There are different opinions on the
advantageousness of these paradigmata in math education.
Multiplication is commutative and associative; further, it is distributive over addition and subtraction.
The multiplicative identity is 1,[1] since multiplying any number by 1 yields that same number.
The multiplicative inverse for any number except 0 is the reciprocal of this number, because
multiplying the reciprocal of any number by the number itself yields the multiplicative identity 1. 0 is
the only number without a multiplicative inverse, and the result of multiplying any number and 0 is
again 0. One says that 0 is not contained in the multiplicative group of the numbers.
The product of a and b is written as a × b or a·b. When a or b are expressions not written simply
with digits, it is also written by simple juxtaposition: ab.[1] In computer programming languages and
software packages (in which one can only use characters normally found on a keyboard), it is often
written with an asterisk:  a * b .
Algorithms implementing the operation of multiplication for various representations of numbers are
by far more costly and laborious than those for addition. Those accessible for manual computation
either rely on breaking down the factors to single place values and applying repeated addition, or on
employing tables or slide rules, thereby mapping multiplication to addition and vice versa. These
methods are outdated and are gradually replaced by mobile devices. Computers utilize diverse
sophisticated and highly optimized algorithms, to implement multiplication and division for the
various number formats supported in their system.