2 Times Table

What you will learn

• Say and write the answers in the $2$ times table up to $2 \times 12$.
• Use the patterns in the table to check your answers.
• Use the table to solve simple word problems.

Before you start: you should know multiplication as equal groups. See Multiplication: Equal Groups and Arrays.

The idea

The $2$ times table lists $2$ multiplied by $1, 2, 3$ and so on up to $12$. Each answer is the number of objects in that many groups of $2$.

The whole table

Patterns

• Multiplying by two means doubling: $2 \times 6$ is $6 + 6 = 12$.
• Every answer is an even number. The last digit is always $0, 2, 4, 6$ or $8$.
• Each answer is $2$ more than the one before: $2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24$.

Skip counting

Counting in steps of $2$ gives the answers one after another.

An array

An array shows the same facts as rows and columns.

Worked examples

Example 1: Doubling

What is $2 \times 8$?

1. Doubling means adding a number to itself.
2. $8 + 8 = 16$.

Answer: $16$.

Example 2: Pairs of shoes

How many shoes are in $7$ pairs?

1. There are $2$ shoes in a pair, so $7$ pairs is $7 \times 2$.
2. Order does not matter, so use $2 \times 7 = 14$.

Answer: $14$ shoes.

Example 3: Checking an answer

Could $2 \times 9$ be $19$?

1. Every answer in the $2$ times table is even.
2. $19$ is odd.

Answer: No. $2 \times 9 = 18$.

If an answer to a 2 times table question is odd, it is wrong. Doubling never gives an odd number.

Why it matters

Doubling is one of the most useful mental maths moves. It leads to the 4 and 8 times tables (double again, double again) and to knowing which numbers are even, which you met in Odd and Even Numbers.