Addition is one of the four basic arithmetic operations, along with subtraction, multiplication, and division, and it is also the simplest. It consists of adding value to a number, adding another. The number or numbers that we are adding are called addends, for this very reason, because they add, add, a quantity to the first. And the result of the operation is called the sum or total.
To add you have to put the quantities one on top of the other, it doesn’t matter what order, and it is that in the sum the order of the factors does not alter the product, since 3+2 is the same as 2+3, the result It’s going to be 5 regardless of which number is on top of the other. It will be necessary to take into account the decimal figures and place the amounts correctly.
You always start to add from the right and it is very likely that we have to take a number. This is when the amount added exceeds the unit and goes to the ten, that is, the result is 10 or higher, in this case we take one, that ten, and we pass it to the left column to add it to the next number . In the event that the sum, instead of being greater than 10, is greater than 20 or 30, we will take the necessary decimals, in these cases 2 and 3 respectively.
Using as an example a simple addition of two numbers such as 46+53, what we have to do is place the amounts one below the other and add column by column, always starting with the column on the right.
- How much are 6+3, we do it and the result is 9.
- What is 4+5, the result is 9.
- We put the two figures together and conclude that 46+53 has a total of 99.
In the event that they are three-digit amounts or that instead of two amounts we have to add 3 or 4, we would do the same but taking into account that some number will have to be taken. Let’s take 45+23+65 as an example:
- We add 5+3+5, we do it and the result is 13.
- We add 4+2+6, we do it and the result is 12, but we must bear in mind that we take one of the 13.
- We put the figures together, the 3 on the right and the 13 on the left, since there are no more columns to the left, we are left with the figures that have come out, either two or three, so the result is 133.
There are two types of additions, the simple ones or those in which we do not take anything with us, such as 4+3, which is 7; and those in which you have to take numbers, depending on the amount that is, we will take more or less numbers to the left.
You can always check if an addition is correct with a subtraction. Taking as an example the previous position of 46+53 whose solution was 99, we will have to subtract one of the two quantities from 99 and it would have to result in the other. That is, if we subtract 46 from 99, 53 must come out; and if we subtract 53 from 99, 46 would have to come out. If the result were not this, it means that we have made a mistake at some point in the operation and we will have to repeat it again.
When we have a sum in which we have to carry, this happens for a simple reason: in each column we can only place one number, less in the first since the operation has finished and we can place more. Being able to place only one, if the sum exceeds the number 9, that is, 10 or greater comes out as a result, we will keep the number on the right, in this case it would be 0, but if the result had been 14, we would be left with the 4, but what do we do with the remaining 1? That 1 is the one we have to add to the next column on the left. So if on the left there is a 7 above and a 2 below, its result is 9, but we must add that 1 that we have left over from the first. Therefore we have to place a 0,
The process is always the same, regardless of the number of digits that each amount has, and the number of digits that must be added. If it is four figures, you can take it to the third, and in the fourth you can add the two figures, the unit and the ten, to the total. If it is five, you will not be able to put two figures as a result of a sum of columns, up to the last one of them. The process is always the same, you just have to look at the figures you get.
Adding Tips
- Notice that you place the numbers correctly before starting the operation, that the tens fit with the tens, the units with the units…otherwise the result will be wrong and you will have to repeat it.
- Always remember if you take a number, because then you will have to take it into account for the next number on the left. If you want, what you can do is, since you are adding the amounts by putting them one on top of the other, put the number you take on top of the column. If you got a result of 22 on the right, go up the 2, then in that column you will have to add the figures corresponding to the amounts plus that 2. In this way you will not forget what you are taking, in fact you can put it in another color so you know that that number is the result of the previous column.
- Always check the sums you do, you may have done it very quickly and it may not always give you the same result. Especially if you’re learning to add, it’s a good idea to do each count twice.
- If when doing the sum you see that the amount is not very logical, for example if you add 1,456+2,345 and the result comes out two thousand or a thousand and something, repeat it, and it is that in a sum the result cannot be less than the amounts. You may have made a mistake or you may have inadvertently subtracted it instead of adding it.
- If you read a mathematical problem, copy the quantities one below the other as you see what you have to add in the statement and that is, since the order of the factors does not alter the product, if you write them down one by one you will avoid skipping one of them and that the problem you do it wrong.
- Put the points, that is, if the figure exceeds one thousand, put a point to know the numbers it has, in the same way that if it is a decimal and has a comma (,), do not forget to put it because in addition to not the you put the result will be wrong, so it is easier to place figures one below the other.
What do you need to add?
- Paper
- Pencil