Spending hours memorizing your times tables can be a real drag, but with this simple trick the nine times table will puzzle you no longer. All you need to do is hold out your hands with the palms facing you.
1 x 9: Bend finger number one (the thumb on your left hand). There are nine fingers to the right of this finger, so the answer is 9.
2 x 9: Release your thumb and bend finger number two. There is one finger to the left of the one you have bent down (making one in the tens column) and eight fingers to the right (the units column). So, the answer is one ten and eight units: 18.
3 x 9: Bend finger number three. There are two fingers to the left of the one you have bent down (making two in the tens column) and seven fingers to the right (the units column). So, the answer is two tens and seven units: 27.
4 x 9: Bend finger number four. There are three fingers to the left of the one you have bent down and six fingers to the right, giving an answer of 36.
5 x 9: Bend finger number five. There are four fingers to the left and five to the right, so 5 x 9 is 45.
6 x 9: Bend finger six. There are five fingers to the left and four to the right, so 6 x 9 is 54.
7 x 9: Bending finger seven leaves six fingers to the right and three to the left, making 63.
8 x 9: Bending finger eight gives seven fingers and two fingers, making 72.
9 x 9: Bending finger nine gives eight fingers and one finger, making 81.
10 x 9: Bending the last finger leaves nine fingers to the left and none to the right, so 10 x 9 is 90.
Easy, isn’t it? Unfortunately, you’ve now run out of fingers, so you’ll have to learn the last two: 11 x 9 = 99 and 12 x 9 = 108. But, you’ll never again have problems with multiplying nine by any number up to ten.