| $3,465 | $4,895 | $4,611 |
| 1,146 | 602 | 4,293 |
| ——— | ——— | ——— |
| $4,611 | $4,293 | $318 |
Answer.—A has $318 more.
When it comes to multiplication and division, there is just one “catch,” so it might appear to the untrained mind of some poor candidate, which is made to play a part in nearly every problem. It is safe to say that 90 per cent. of the failures on these two processes turn on this one point. It is a very simple one and really the same in both processes. It arises in the handling of the “naught” or “cipher,” as we used to call it, the “zero”—call it what you like, it is nothing, anyhow. And that’s the point to be remembered.
Here is an example: Multiply 3,125 by 208. Now it seems almost incredible, but I have seen literally hundreds of papers, it seems to me, where this very simple problem was worked out this way:
The Wrong Way.
| 3,125 |
| 208 |
| ——— |
| 25000 |
| 3125 |
| 6250 |
| ——— |
| 681250 |
Or else this:
Another Wrong Way.
| 3125 |
| 208 |
| ——— |
| 25000 |
| 6250 |
| ——— |
| 87500 |