How to improve calculation speed for IBPS Exams?

Quantitative Aptitude Section has always been giving the aspirants heebie-jeebies when they appear for any examination. As the level of every other section is only getting complex and difficult to deal with, there is no doubt that this section too will be making your blood run cold. And what make the section this complex and convoluted are the calculations that one needs to do while solving the questions asked. As per the analysis of previous examinations, the questions asked in this section are calculative and very time-consuming. We hope now you know how important it is not to give a cold shoulder to the calculations speed of yours.

DI's, Simplification and Approximation, Inequalities are the topics that help score the maximum marks in this section. And to deal with these topics efficiently, you need to be excellent at calculation because if you lag here, this section can prove to be a can of worms for you. Some people might wonder how there are people who can do the toughest of the calculations within minutes while others find it difficult to do the simplest of the calculations. But that’s just a mind set. Calculations can be made easier when the questions are continuously being practiced by someone who is actually willing to improve. In this article, we will be discussing the tips and tricks to do the calculations faster so as you attempt the maximum number of questions in the Quantitative Aptitude Section. 

• Remember to have all the multiplication tables up to 20, squares up to 30, cubes up to 20, and fraction tables (1/n) entirely grasped.

• Try to do most of the everyday calculations on your own. Check the Cricket Scores that are quite big in numbers, and try to perform Average, Subtraction, Multiplications and things can do a good turn in the examinations. While you travel, you can also check the car numbers while you travel and divide, multiply by the number of cars you marked. It will boost your calculation skills.

• Continuous practice is always beneficial, as the candidate is able to find the correlation in some calculations, can observe a pattern and might develop a few tips and tricks on his own to solve that particular question. This helps the candidate in remembering what the answer will be to a particular calculation like addition or multiplication, which will eventually save the time during the examination.

• For almost every problem of Quant Section, there is a technique or trick given by Vedic Math that may help candidates saving their precious time during the Examination. One must always know where a particular technique or trick is to be used while solving different questions.

Here are a few important things for you to remember so as to perform fast calculations while attempting competitive examinations:

• Multiplying a three-digit number by a three-digit number.

Step 1: CF (Write only the unit’s digit and carry the rest to the next step).

Step 2: BF + CE + Carried Over (Write only the unit’s digit and carry the rest to the next step).

Step 3: AF + CD + BE + Carried Over (Write only the unit’s digit and carry the rest to the next step).

Step 4: AE + BD + Carried Over (Write only the unit’s digit and carry the rest to the next step).

Step 5: AD + Carried Over (Write the complete number because this is the last step).

E.g.

• Multiplying a two-digit-number by a two-digit-number.

• Square of numbers ending in 5.

75 × 75 or 75²

As explained earlier in the chapter of multiplication we simply multiply 7 by the next number i.e. 8 to get 56 which forms first part of answer and the last part is simply 25 = (5)². 

So, 75 × 75 = 5625

This method is applicable to numbers of any size.

Example: 605²

60 × 61 = 3660 and 5² = 25

∴ 605² = 366025