Vedic Maths

Base method:

This is very suitable when numbers are close to a base like 10, 100, 1000 or so on.
Let's take an example:
106 × 108

Here the base is 100 and the 'surplus' is 6 and 8 for the two numbers. The answer
will be found in two parts, the right-hand should have only two digits (because base
is 100) and will be the product of the surpluses. Thus, the right-hand part will be 6 ×
8, i.e. 48. The left-hand part will be one multiplicand plus the surplus of the other
multiplicand. The left part of the answer in this case will be 106 + 8 or for that
matter 108 + 6 i.e. 114. The answer is 11448.

12 X 14.

10 would the most suitable base. In the current example, the surplus numbers are
+2 and +4.

If 8x7 were to be performed and base of 10 were chosen, then -2 and -3 would have
been the deficit numbers.

Try the following numbers

(a) 13 X 16 (b) 16 X 18 (c) 18 X 19 (d) 22 X 24

Once you get comfortable, do not use any paper or pen.

27 X 28 322 23 X 18 46 X 48 5255 582

53 X 57 622 382 42 X 46 9698 92 X 93
99 X 99 102 X 105 98 X 107 112X113 1082 123 X 127

Using Other Bases

In 46 X 48, the base chosen is 50 and multiplication of 44 by 50 is better done like

this: take the half of 44 and put two zeros at the end, because 50 is same as 100/2.
Therefore, product will be 2200. It would be lengthy to multiply 44 by 5 and put a
zero at the end. In general, whenever we want to multiply anything by 5, simply
halve it and put a zero.

Multiply 32 by 25. Most of the students would take 30 as the base. The method is
correct but nonetheless lengthier. Better technique is to understand that 25 is same
as one-fourth. Therefore, one-fourth of 32 is 8 and hence the answer is 800.

An application of Base Method to learn multiplications of the type 3238, where unit's
digit summation is 10 and digits other than unit's digit are same in both the
numbers. In the above example, 2 + 8 = 10 and 3 in 32 is same as 3 in 38.
Therefore method can be applied. The method is simple to apply. The group of digits
other than unit's digit, in this case 3, is multiplied by the number next to itself.
Therefore, 3 is multiplied by 4 to obtain 12, which will form the left part of the
answer. The unit's digits are multiplied to obtain 16 (in this case), which will form the
right part of the answer. Therefore, the answer is 1216.

Try these now

53 X 57 91 X 99 106 X 104 123 X 127

The rule for squares of numbers ending with 5. e.g., 652. This is same as 65 X 65
and since this multiplication satisfies the criteria that unit's digit summation is 10 and
rest of the numbers are same, we can apply the method. Therefore, the answer is 42
/ 25 = 4225.

Try these:
352 952 1252 2052

Cubing

Finding the cubes of numbers close to the powers of 10. e.g., cubes of 998, 1004,
100012, 10007, 996, 9988, etc. Some of the numbers are in surplus and others are
in deficit. Explain the method as given below.

Find (10004)3

Step (I) : Base is 10000. Provide three spaces in the answer.The base contains 4
zeros. Hence, the second and third space must contain exactly 4 digits.

1 0 0 0 4 = —/ —/ —

Step (II) : The surplus is (+4). If surplus is written as 'a', perform the operation
'3a' and add to the base 10000 to get 10012. Put this in the 1st space.

1 0 0 0 4 = 1 0 0 1 2 /—/—

Step (III) : The new surplus is (+12). Multiply the new surplus by the old surplus,
i.e. (+4)(+12) = (+48). According to the rule written in the step (I), 48 is written as
0048.

1 0 0 0 4 = 1 0 0 1 2 / 0 0 4 8 /—

Step (IV) : The last space will be filled by the cube of the old surplus (+4).
Therefore, 43 = 64, which is written as 0064.

10004=10012/0048/0064

Therefore, the answer is 1001200480064.

Find (998)3
Step (I) : Base = 1000. Hence, exactly 3 digits must be there in the 2nd and 3rd
space.The deficit = (+2)

9 9 8 = —/—/—

Step (II) : Multiply the deficit by 3 and subtract (because this is the case of deficit)
from the base.

9 9 8 = 9 9 4 /—/—

Step (III) : (old deficit) x (new deficit) = 2 x 6 = 12

9 9 8 = 9 9 4 / 0 1 2 /—

Step (IV) : The cube of the old deficit = 8. Since it is the case of deficit, -8 should
be written. All that you need to do to write the negative number in the third space is
to find the complement of the number, in this case 8. But since the third space must
have exactly 3 digits, the complement of 008 must be calculated. The complement of
008 is 992. Don't forget to reduce the last digit of the second space number by 1

998=994/012/992
-1
————————————
994/011/992

Therefore, the answer is 994011992

As an exercise, try the following :

999943 = 9 9 9 8 2 / 0 0 1 0 8 / 0 0 2 1 6 = 99982/00107/99784

100053 = 1 0 0 1 5 / 0 0 7 5 / 0 1 2 5 = 10015/0075/0125

1000253 = 1 0 0 0 7 5 / 0 1 8 7 5 / 1 5 6 2 5 = 100075/01875/15625

99999883 = 9 9 9 9 9 6 4 / 0 0 0 0 4 3 2 / 0 0 0 1 7 2 8

= 9999964/0000431/9998272
Calculating Faster
Maths in the Quantitative Ability (QA) and the Data Interpretation (DI) section is not
only about solving the questions accurately but also solving them with speed.

For faster calculations:-

1. The first requirement is to mug up tables till 30, reciprocals with respect to
percentage and decimals, squares & cubes till 30, square roots and cube roots till 7.

2. Practice various questions to become comfortable with the various types of

problems and understand by which method you can solve a particular problem faster.
Exposure to various types of questions is required so CAT does not come as a
surprise to you.

3. Be very thorough with basics of all arithmetic topics like profit, loss and discount,
ratios, basic number theory and formulas.

4. Take sectional tests and analyse your performance. This helps you to understand
your strengths and weaknesses. Remember, a test is not conducted to tell you that
you perform at 80% efficiency but to point out the 20% area where you are making
mistakes.

5. Try vedic maths and learn short-cut methods that work for you. Also, try doing
mental calculations and minimise the use of using pen and paper.

6. Approximation is the best tool to arrive at answers quickly but using it is an art,
you will have to learn this through trial-and-error and practice.

7. Often you can arrive at the correct answer by the process of elimination. For some
questions you may see that two or three of the given options are pretty far fetched
and it is easy to select the right answer. Again, this method needs practice to perfect.

8. Whenever you try to calculate faster then your comfort zone speed, you are bound
to make silly mistakes. So, try to build up your speed slowly so that it peaks in
November when all the entrance tests are about to begin.

The Importance Of Reciprocal Percentages And Fractions

The CAT tests your ability to interpret and understand questions based on facts and
figures. To tackle the QA & DI sections, you need to have a good understanding of
number theory. Lets take an example.

Suppose you are to calculate 5.26% of 760 as a sub-step of a DI calculation say

something like

(526/200) X (760/100) => {(5.26/100) X (760/1)} 1/20

You should know the equivalent fraction of 5.76% (It is actually 1/19 ), it reduces to
(40) X 1/20 = 2
This can save you vital 15 – 20 seconds (at least) and saving this much time in
almost every question means a higher attempt and higher accuracy.

So, be sure to spend time learning equivalent fraction & percentages from 1/1 to
1/30.

Here are some tables to help you out…

Number Reciprocal Decimal Percentage

1 1/1 1.0 100
2 1/2 0.5 50
3 1/3 0.33 33.33
4 1/4 0.25 25
5 1/5 0.20 20
6 1/6 0.166 16.66
7 1/7 0.142 14.28
8 1/8 0.125 12.50
9 1/9 0.1111 11.11
10 1/10 0.1 10

Tips To Remember Some Values:

The values of reciprocal percentages (RP) for 6 is exactly half that for 3 (half of
33.33 = 16.66)

The RP for 8 is exactly half of 4 (half of 25 = 12.5)

Seven is easy to remember just 7 into 2 (14), followed by 14 into 2 (28) which
makes it 14.28

9 is one-third of 3 (33.33 divided by 3 = 11.11)

Please start with the next ten only after becoming absolutely comfortable with the
first ten

Number Reciprocal Decimal Percentage

11 1/11 0.09090 9.09
12 1/12 0.0833 8.33
13 1/13 0.077 7.7
14 1/14 0.0714 7.14
15 1/15 0.0666 6.66
16 1/16 0.0625 6.25
17 1/17 0.0588 5.88
 18 1/18 0.0555 5.55
19 1/19 0.0526 5.26
20 1/20 0.05 5

Tips To Remember Some Values:

By now you would have figured out that the difficult ones are the prime numbers. We
have already dealt with 7. Now we need to work out 11, 13, 17, 19, 23 and 29.

9 and 11 are interrelated as 1/9 is 11.11 and 1/11 is 9.09

13 is considered unlucky. The way you remember it is through the year 1977,which
proved unlucky for Indira Gandhi and Coca Cola.

All even numbers can be worked out by dividing the RP for the number that was their
half or quarter by two or four respectively. For example, 12 is half of 6 (half of 16.66
= 8.33)

Workout the rest of the primes and your own unique way to remember them. We
cannot emphasize the importance of having the percentages of the 1st 30 reciprocals
on your fingertips.

Number Reciprocal Decimal Percentage

21 1/21 0.0476 4.76
22 1/22 0.04545 4.54
23 1/23 0.0434 4.34
24 1/24 0.0416 4.16
25 1/25 0.04 4
26 1/26 0.0384 3.84
27 1/27 0.0370 3.7
28 1/28 0.0357 3.57
29 1/29 0.0344 3.44
30 1/30 0.0333 3.33

Composite Table

Sl.No RV % RV Squre Cube Forth term Squre Root Cube Root

1 1.00 100 1 1 1 1.00 1
2 0.50 50.00 4 8 16 1.41 1.25
3 0.33 33.33 9 27 81 1.73 1.44
4 0.25 25.00 16 64 256 2.00 1.58
5 0.20 20.00 25 125 625 2.24 1.70
6 0.17 16.67 36 216 1296 2.45 1.81
7 0.14 14.29 49 343 2401 2.65 1.91
8 0.13 12.50 64 512 4096 2.83 2
9 0.11 11.11 81 729 6561 3.00 2.08
10 0.10 10.00 100 1000 10000 3.16 2.15
11 0.09 9.09 121 1331
12 0.08 8.33 144 1728
13 0.08 7.69 169 2197
14 0.07 7.14 196 2744
15 0.07 6.67 225 3375
16 0.06 6.25 256 4096
17 0.06 5.88 289 4913
18 0.06 5.56 324 5832
19 0.05 5.26 361 6859
20 0.05 5.00 400 8000
21 0.05 4.76 441 9261
22 0.05 4.55 484 10648
23 0.4 4.35 529 12167
24 0.04 4.17 576 13824
25 0.04 4.00 625 15625
26 0.04 3.85 676 17576
27 0.04 3.70 729 19683
28 0.04 3.57 784 21952
29 0.03 3.45 841 24389
30 0.03 3.33 900 27000