Webinar on Vedic Maths for students and teachers of Middle School

Mathematics enthusiasts have always asked questions like, What is Vedic Mathematics? What are the techniques of Vedic Mathematics? and What are the advantages of learning Vedic Maths? etc.

To answer these questions, a webinar was organised by our School in collaboration with the Pratham Institute, on 27 April 2021 for the teachers and students of classes VI to VIII . The resource person was Ms. Hema Choudhary, alumnus of Miranda House.

Ms Choudhary started the session with the question Who invented Zero? She busted the myth by mentioning that the zero was invented by Brahmagupta and not Aryabhatta, who only popularised the use of it and hence is falsely credited with its invention.

She also informed the students that Vedic Mathematics is a collection of techniques or sutras which help to solve arithmetical calculations in an easy and fast way. It consists of 16 sutras ( formulae) and 13 sub-sutras ( sub formulae) which can be used for problem solving in various fields of mathematics like arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, conics etc.

Vedic Mathematics is a system of formulae discovered by Indian mathematician, Jagadguru Shri Bharathi Krishna Tirthaji in the period between A.D. 1911 and 1918 and later published as a book in the year 1957. He possessed exceptional talent in subjects like mathematics, science and Sanskrit.. His other interests included spiritualism and meditation. In fact, when he was practising meditation in a forest near Sringeri, he decrypted the Sulbasutras illustrated in the Rig-Veda.

In an hour-long session, Ms Choudhary talked about the advantages of Vedic Mathematics. She claimed that using 'Vedic Maths tricks', one could do calculations 10-15 times faster than by the usual methods. The use of Vedic Maths also helps remove the fear of Math in a fun-filled manner. It arouses student interest in the subject which in turn, improves the academic performance. Other advantages include sharpening the mind, increase in mental agility and intelligence, enhancing retention skills and boosting self-confidence.

According to Ms Choudhary, a person only requires the knowledge of multiplication tables to master and apply the skills. She mentioned how Vedic Maths techniques/sutras have been extensively used by CAT, CET, SAT aspirants to improve speed and accuracy.

However these tricks have pre-requisites or terms and conditions i.e., most of the methods are dependent on some specific numbers. They are called specific methods.

Some tricks for quick multiplications were shared in the webinar and were as follows:

Trick 1: Unit digit concept of two-digit numbers

Terms and conditions:

1. Sum of unit digit of both the 2-digit numbers must be 10.

2. Tens digit must be the same.

E.g. 46 x 44

Step 1. Multiply the unit digit of both the numbers i.e. 6 x 4 =24

Step 2. Multiply the tens digit with its successor i.e. 4 x 5 = 20

Rule to be followed in Vedic Maths:

In case the product of the unit digit is a single digit then it must be written as a two digit number by affixing a 0 to it. E.g. If the product is 2 then it will be expressed as 02.

So, the answer of the question 46 x 44 = 2024

Trick 2: Multiplication with a number having a series of 9s

Terms and conditions:

1. One of the two numbers which have to be multiplied should be a series of 9 like 99, 999, 9999 etc.

2. The other number should be smaller than the number which is a series of 9. E.g. 9999 x 56   Step1. Subtract 1 from the smaller number i.e. 56-1 = 55 Step 2. Subtract the difference from the other number i.e. 9999 55 = 9944 So, the answer of the question 9999 x 56 = 559944 Similarly, some other tricks were also shared before the session up. The students marvelled at the simple tricks and participated in the webinar with enthusiasm. They felt motivated and demonstrated a desire to learn such methods of calculation in the future.