The table below shows the product of 6 and 6. The product of any number multiplied by itself is called a square number . The multiplication table below shows all the square numbers to 100. Notice that the squares form a diagonal across the multiplication table. Notice also that the products on one side of the diagonal mirror the products on the other side.
Students can explore square numbers as well as other patterns by using multiplication tables.
Following are some of the other patterns your students will discover. The products in the row and column for some factors are double the products in the row and column for other factors. Explore with students how the relationships between the factors in the rows and columns affect the relationship between the products of those factors. For example, since 8 is the double of 4, the products in the row for 8 are double the products in the row for 4. The sum of the digits in each product for the multiples of 9 is 9.