What is Multiplication?

Multiplication of whole numbers is the mathematical operation of adding together multiple copies of the same number. Multiplication is generalized to many kinds of numbers and to more abstract constructs such as matrices. For example, four multiplied by three is twelve, since three sets of four make twelve:      4 + 4 + 4 = 12. Multiplication is written using the multiplication sign “×” between the terms; that is, in infix notation. The result is expressed with an equals sign. For example,      2 x (times) 3 = 6 (verbally, “two times three equals six”)      3 x (times) 4 = 12      2 x (times) 3 x (times) 5 = 6 x (times) 5 = 30      2 x (times) 2 x (times) 2 x (times) 2 x (times) 2 = 32  The numbers to be multiplied are generally called the “factors” or “multiplicands”. When thinking of multiplication as repeated addition, the number to be multiplied is called the “multiplicand”, while the number of multiples is called the “multiplier   The result of a multiplication is called a product, and is a multiple of each factor that is an integer. For example 15 is the product of 3 and 5, and is both a multiple of 3 and a multiple of 5.  In mathematics, multiplication is one of four main operations in elementary arithmetic, and most people learn basic multiplication algorithms in elementary school. The inverse of multiplication is division.