Consulting Mental Math
97% of 208
100% of 208 - 3% of 208= 208 - 6.3 = 201.7
23 x 47
1081 Rule of multiplying 2 digit #s 100(2*4) + 10(3*4) + 10(2*7) + 3*7
23% of 60
13.8 ~ 20% of 60 ~ 12, round up ~ 14 20% of 60 + 3% of 60 = 12 + 1.8 = 13.8
20% of 700
140 Find 10%, then double it
288 x 5
1440 Multiply by 10, then divide by 2 2880/2
27% of 54
15 ~ 30% of 55 = ~16.5, round down = 15 20% of 54 + 7% of 54 10.8 + 3.78 = 14.6
38% of 400
152 Same as 400% of 38 = 4 * 38 = 152
10% of 160
16 (divide by 10 or move decimal 1 place)
70% of 24
16.8 Find 10% then multiply by 7
1.7/10
17%
The total widget market is $170mm, our sales are $30mm - what is our market share?
18% 3/15 > 3/17 > 3/20 20% > 2/17 > 15% = 18%
Labor costs are 25% of our $75,000 total cost - how much are labor costs?
18,750 20% of 75,000 + 5% of 75,000 15,000 + 3,750 = 18,750 1/4 of 75,000= 1/4 of 80 = 20, scale down = 18,000
50% of 360
180 50% = 1/2
2% of 980
19.6 Find 1% then double it
.62/31
2% .6/30 6/300 2/100 =2%
.54 / 27
2% x2 = ~1/60 2/120 = 2.4%
14% of 16,000,000
2.2mm 10% of 16mm + 4% of 16mm 1,600,000 + 640,000 = 2,240,000 OR 14% of 16 1.6+.64 = 2.24 mm
25% of 80
20 Same as 1/4; divide by 4
Our cost to make 39,379 widgets is $20mm; what is our cost/unit
20,000,000/40,000 = 2,000/4 = 1,000/2 = 500/1 = $500 / widget
9 x 27
243 10*27 - 27 270-27 243 Multiplying by 9
8 X 27
246 10*27 - 27*2 270-54 Multiplying by 8
13 x 19
247 Multiplying #'s between 11 and 19 (10+a)*(10+b) 100+10(a+b)+a*b 100+120+27 247
30% of 870
261 find 10% then multiply by 3
5,890 / 5
(5,890 / 10) * 2. So in this case, 589 * 2 = 1,178.
1/40
.025, 2.5%
1/40
.025, 2.5% x2 = 2/80 = 2.5/100
1/30
.033 = 3.3%
1/13
.0769, 7.7%
1/11
.099, 9.9%
1/6
.167, 16.7%
1/20
0.05, 5%
1/15
0.066, 6.6%
1/12
0.08333..., 8.3%
1/10
0.1, 10%
What % is 7 of 63
0.11 7/63 10/65 1/6.5 Less than 0.16
1/9
0.111, 11.1%
2% of 6
0.12 Find 1%, then double it
1/8
0.125, 12.5%
1/7
0.142, 14.2%
1/5
0.2, 20%
1/14
0.71 and 71%
35 x 75
2625 Rule of 2 digit #'s ending in 5 Round the smaller number down and the larger up to the nearest multiple of ten. In this case: 35-5=30=X 75+5=80=Y The algorithm reads as follows: (X*Y)+50(t1-t2)+25 Where t1 is the tens unit of the original larger number (75) and t2 is the tens unit of the original smaller number (35). 30*80+50(7-3)+25=2625
16 x 17
272 Multiplying #'s between 11 and 19 (10+a)*(10+b) 100+10(a+b)+a*b =100+130+42 272
40% of 7,890
3,156 find 10% then multiply by 4
670 x 5
3,350 Multiply by 10, then divide by 2
80% of 38
30.4 Find 10% then multiply by 8
25% of 124
31 1/4 of 124 = 1/4 of 100 + 1/4 of 24= 25 + 6 = 31
7*45
315 7*50 - 7*5 350-35 315
60% of 560
336 Find 10% then multiply by 6
78% of 45
35 ~80% of 45 = 36.5, scale down = 35
Your $36 stock increased 6% today - how much is it now worth
38.16 6% of 36 = .36*6 ~.4*6 ~2.4 ~=38.4
45 X 85
3825 Rule of 2 digit #'s ending in 5 Round smaller # down and larger up 45-5 = 40 85+5 = 90 40*90 + 50(4) + 25 3600+200+25 =3825
3/75
4% 1/25
1% of 4,000,000
40,000 (divide by 100 or move decimal 2 places)
60% of 70
42 7*6 OR 50% of 70 + 10% of 70 35+7 = 42
90% of 55
49.5 Also equal to: 100% of 55 - 10% of 55 = 55-5.5 =54.5
10% of 50
5 (divide by 10 or move decimal 1 place)
2.5/50
5%
480mm decrease to 450mm is what % change?
5% 480-450/480 30/480 3/48 ~6%, scale down to 5%
1% of 530
5.3 (divide by 100 or move decimal 2 places)
1% of 550
5.5 (divide by 100 or move decimal 2 places)
75% of 670
504 3/4*670 OR 50% of 670 + 25% of 670 = 335 + 168 = 503
15% of 340
51 10% of 340 + 5% of 340 = 34 + 17 = 51
65% of 80
52 60% of 80 + 5% of 80= 48 + 4 = 52
Shares outstanding = 41,084,000 Investors hold = 25,171,000 What percentage of shares are held by investors?
62.5% 25/40
187% of 350
655 Same as 350% of 187 = 3.5*187 = 655 OR Same as 350% of 187 = (100+100+100+50)% of 187 = 187*3 + 187/2 = 655
1% of 6,800
68 (divide by 100 or move decimal 2 places)
1% of 700
7 (divide by 100 or move decimal 2 places)
78% of 90
70 ~80% of 90 =72, scale down = 70
75% of 1000
750 Same as 3/4
251 x 323
81,073 251*3 + 251*20 + 251*300 753 + 5020 + 75300
2.5% of $3,500,000
87,500 70,000 + 18,000 = 88000
896 x 11
9,856 The ones digit of the multiplier, 6, is copied to the temporary result.: 6 Add 6 + 9 = 15 so 5 is placed on the left side of the result and carry the 1. result: 56 Similarly add 8 + 9 = 17, then add the carried 1 to get 18. Place 8 to the result and carry the 1. result: 856 Add the carried 1 to the highest valued digit in the multiplier, 8 + 1 = 9, and copy to the result to finish.
10% of 900
90 (divide by 10 or move decimal 1 place)
13% of 19
= 2 ~10% of 20 = 2 OR 10% of 19 * 3% of 19= 1.9 + .57 = 2.47
68% of 68
=46 60% of 68% + 8% of 68 6*6.8 + 0.68*8 = 40.8+5.44 =46.24
12% of 83
=9 10% of 83 + 2% of 83= 8.3 + 1.66 9.96
759 x 11
A step-by-step example of 759 × 11: The ones digit of the multiplier, 9, is copied to the temporary result.: 9 Add 5 + 9 = 14 so 4 is placed on the left side of the result and carry the 1. result: 49 Similarly add 7 + 5 = 12, then add the carried 1 to get 13. Place 3 to the result and carry the 1. result: 349 Add the carried 1 to the highest valued digit in the multiplier, 7 + 1 = 8, and copy to the result to finish. Final product of 759 × 11: 8349
90% of 730
Find 10% then multiply by 9
8/256
Step 1: Begin by finding an acceptable range for how many times 8 goes into 256. Because 8 x 10 = 80 and 8 x 100 = 800, we know 8 will go into 256 between 10 and 100 times. So we can safely assume our answer will be a two-digit number. Step 2: Determine what multiple of 10 multiplied with 8 gets you closest to 256. Because 8 x 30 = 240, 8 goes into 256 30-something times. Step 3: Count how many eights are between 240 to 256. Two more eights will do the trick. So our final answer is 256 ÷ 8 = 32.
1% of x is 23
x = 2,300
10% of x is 430
x = 4,300