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Zero?
Yeah, Zero is a wonderful thing. In fact, Zero is my hero!
How can Zero be a hero?
Well, there are all kinds of heroes, you know. A man can get to be a hero
For a famous battle he fought... Or by studying very hard
And becoming a weightless astronaut.
And then there are heroes of other sorts, Like the heroes we know from watching sports.
But a hero doesn't have to be a grown up person, you know,
A hero can be a very big dog Who comes to your rescue,
Or a very little boy who's smart enough to know what to do.
But let me tell you about my favorite hero.
My hero, Zero, such a funny little hero, But till you came along,
We counted on our fingers and toes. Now you're here to stay
And nobody really knows How wonderful you are.
Why we could never reach a star, Without you, Zero, my hero,
How wonderful you are.
What's so wonderful about a zero? It's nothing, isn't it?
Sure, it represents nothing alone.
But place a zero after 1 And you've got yourself a 10.
See how important that is? When you run out of digits,
You can start all over again. See how convenient that is?
That's why with only ten digits including zero,
You can count as high as you could ever go... Forever, towards infinity,
No one ever gets there, but you could try.
With 10 billion zeros, From the cavemen till the heroes,
Who invented you, They counted on their fingers and toes
And maybe some sticks and stones, or rocks and bones
And their neighbors' toes. You're here,
And nobody really knows How wonderful you are.
Why we could never reach the star, Without you, Zero, my hero,
Zero, how wonderful you are.
Place one zero after any number And you've multiplied that number by 10.
See how easy that is. Place two zeros after any number
And you've multiplied that number by 100. See how simple that is.
Place three zeros after any number, And you've multiplied that number by 1,000.
Et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad astra, forever and ever,
With zero, my hero, how wonderful you are.
Forty days and forty nights, Didn't it rain, children.
Not a speck of land in sight, Didn't it, didn't it rain.
But Noah built the ark so tight They sailed on, children.
And when at last the waters receded And the dove brought back the olive tree leaf,
He landed that ship near Mount Ararat And one of his children grabbed Noah's robe
and said, "Hey Dad, how many animals on this old ark
anyway, huh?"
Elementary, my dear, two time two is four. Elementary, my dear, two time three is six.
Elementary, my dear, two time four is eight. Elementary, my dear, two time five is ten.
Two times one is two, of course. And it must occur to you,
You get an even number Every time you multiply by two.
Elementary, my dear, two time six is twelve. Elementary, my dear, two time seven is fourteen.
Elementary, my dear, two times eight is sixteen. Elementary, my dear, two times nine is eighteen.
Two times ten is twenty, eleven twice is twenty-two. Double twelve that's twenty-four, thirteen
twice is twenty-six, Fourteen twice is twenty-eight, fifteen twice
is thirty, now you build it up on thirty, Sixteen twice is thirty-two, elementary.
Seventeen twice is thirty-four, elementary. Eighteen twice is thirty-six, elementary.
Nineteen twice is thirty-eight, elementary. Twenty twice is forty,
and it must occur to you, You can double any number,
All you do is multiply by two...
Elementary, my dear, two time two is four. (Woo!)
Elementary, my dear, two time three is six. (Yeah!)
Elementary, my dear, two time four is eight. (Woop!)
Elementary, my dear, two time five is ten. (Yeah!)
Now, if you want to multiply 2 x 174, Or some big number like that,
2 x 174 = 2 x 100 + 2 x 70 + 2 x 4 That's all.
So, 2 x 174 = 200 + 140 + 8 or 348. It's elementary!
Elementary... elementary...
Twice 32 is 64, elementary... Twice 33 is 66, elementary...
Twice 34 is 68, elementary... Twice 35 is 70, elementary...
Yeah, yes, it's elementary, yeah.
Now, what's 2 x 98?
Aww! That's hard! No, it's very simple.
2 x 98 = 2 x 100 - 2 x 2 That's 200 - 4 ... 196.
Elementary.
Forty days and forty nights Didn't it rain, children?
Three is a magic number, Yes it is, it's a magic number.
Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity You get three as a magic number.
The past and the present and the future. Faith and Hope and Charity,
The heart and the brain and the body Give you three as a magic number.
It takes three legs to make a tri-pod Or to make a table stand.
It takes three wheels to make a ve-hicle Called a tricycle.
Every triangle has three corners, Every triangle has three sides,
No more, no less. You don't have to guess.
When it's three you can see It's a magic number.
A man and a woman had a little baby, Yes, they did.
They had three in the family, And that's a magic number.
3 6 9, 12 15 18, 21 24 27, 30.
Multiply backwards from 3 x 10
3 x 10 = 30 3 x 9 = 27
3 x 8 = 24 3 x 7 = 21
3 x 6 = 18 3 x 5 = 15
3 x 4 = 12 3 x 3 = 9
3 x 2 = 6 3 x 1 = 3
Now take the pattern once more: Three! . . . 3 6 9
12 . . . 12 15 18 21 . . . 21 24 27 . . . 30
Now multiply from 10 backwards: 3 x 10 = 30 Keep going!
3 x 9 = 27 3 x 8 = 24
3 x 7 = 21
3 x 6 = 18 3 x 5 = 15
3 x 4 = 12
3 x 3 = 9 3 x 2 = 6
And 3 x 1 ... What is it?! Three!
Yeah, That's a magic number.
A man and a woman had a little baby. Yes, they did.
They had three in the family. That's a magic number.
We went to the four-legged zoo To visit our four-footed friends.
Lions and tigers, cats and dogs, A goat and a cow and a couple o' hogs
A rhinoceros and of course a hippopotamus And, oh yes, a horse!
There were elk and bison, a gnu or two, Giraffes and elephants, quite a few,
A llama, alpaca, vicuna too, Zebras, ibexes, and one big kudu.
It was swell. I liked the gazelle.
Now Miss Simpson said... She teaches school, you know -
Yeah, she took us there. Well, Miss Simpson said -
If we counted every head on these quadrupeds, Then multiplied that number by four,
We'd know how many feet went through the door, If we turned 'em all loose.
Oh no, don't do that! It's really a groovy zoo.
But, anyway, what Miss Simpson said, It was a chance to work on 4 in our heads.
One, two, three, four!
I'll take a lion... 1 x 4 He's got four legs and maybe a roar.
Gimme two camels... that's 2 x 4 Eight legs walking 'cross the desert floor.
A tiger and a lamb and a fat kudu, Would be 3 x 4 = 12 legs too.
But we might have to subtract When that tiger was through!
Four four-footed friends, no matter who, Would have 16 legs, and it's always true.
That 4 x 4 = 16, And 5 x 4 = 20.
Now a coach and six, if you were Cinderella, Would have you home by midnight
If those 24 legs ran fast as lightning... Six times four equals 24 and seven times four
equals 28 Anyone knows that, who cares about seven...
And 8 antelope have 32 legs 'cause 8 x 4 = 32
Here come a small herd of buffalo. They say they're getting extinct, you know.
I can count nine - that's 36 legs. 9 x 4 = 36
Here comes a baby buffalo. That's good! That's ten!
10 x 4 = 40.
Eleven coyotes... ( 11 x 4 ) Went slinkin' over the prairie floor
On all of their legs... Equals 44.
Now twelve times four is as high as we go... 12 x 4 = 48
But there were so very, very, many, many more Animals standing there by the gate.
But we'd have to use a pencil if we counted them all.
And we really had fun, And we saw every one.
A bear, a cougar, a jackal, a yak, A fox, some deer, and a sweet giraffe.
And I can't remember how many, many more, But we multiplied them all by four.
And some of them thanked us with a roar.
Now everybody try to find a good hiding place. This ol' tree is gonna be the base. I'm gonna
close my eyes and hide my face and count to a hundred by fives.
Ready? Go!
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100.
Ready or not, here I come.
Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie, Who's not ready, holler "I" - ("I!")
Oh, alright, I'll count it again, But you better get hid, kid.
Here we go.
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105,
110, 115, 120. There! A bushel of wheat and a bushel of rye,
Who's not hid, holler "I." Twenty nickels makes a dollar!
I didn't hear anybody holler. Five times twenty is one hundred,
Everybody got to be hid. All eyes open, here I come, whew!
Multiplying by five is a little like countin' by five. In fact, if you counted along on
your fingers as you counted out loud by fives, your fingers would tell you how many fives,
you've got.
Ok, let's count it together, now. Count on your fingers...
One finger for each count out loud... Get set. Ready? Go!
5, 10, 15, 20 - STOP! Twenty.
You got four fingers, see, that means four times five is 20.
Let's try another one. Get set. Ready? Go!
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 - STOP! Thirty-five.?
Seven fingers... that's right, Seven times five is 35.
Okay, let's try a longer one. Now when you run out of fingers, at 50 - you see, because
ten times five is 50 - then start over with the same fingers and remember that you owe
10 ... Get set. Ready? Go!
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 - STOP!
Ten and two, right? That's twelve fingers.
Twelve times five is 60. See how it works?
Now you may notice that if you multiply five by an even number, your product will end in
zero; and if you multiply five by an odd number, your product will end in five.
Ok, now let's do one more game of counting by fives on our fingers.
This is a long one. Keep going.
Get set. Ready? Go!
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85 - STOP! Eighty-five.
Seventeen fingers. Look at that boy with seventeen fingers stickin'
up. How d'ya do that, kid?
Anyway, five times 17 is 85.
See, that's three fives short of a hundred. If you had three more nickels, 15 cents, then
added the 15 to the 85, you'd get a hundred, right?
Cause five times 20 is 100. Everybody got to be hid!
It's 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100.
Ready or not, Here I come!
I got six. That's all there is.
Six time one is six, one times six
He got six. I put mine with his and we got twelve
Six time two is twelve, two times six
I got six, you got six, She got six.
We got eighteen altogether. If we can get 'em all together.
Six time three is eighteen, three times six
I got six in my right hand, Six in my left hand,
Six on my head. And you got six in your pocket.
Put 'em all on the floor - that's 24. Six time four is 24, four times six
I got six red hens. They laid five eggs each.
All the eggs hatched out, And the yard was full of 30 little chicks.
Six time five is 30, five times six
One fine day, They all started in to lay.
I got 36 eggs, and I took 'em in the house, And I put 'em in boxes,
Six eggs each. Six boxes. Aw, six times six is 36, six times six
Goin' to the candy store - I'll take six of these and six of those
And six of them and six of the others. And also six of the red, six of the white,
And six of the blue. I'll put 'em in one bag - that's 42.
Six times seven is 42, seven times six
Oh, I'm throwin' downtown, Pickin' up six.
I made 8 tricks And didn't miss a lick.
Six times eight is 48, eight times six
Nine hungry men had six dollars each. (Aw!) That's 54 bucks,
But they were outta luck. 'Cause 54 bucks won't buy dinner downtown.
Not for nine. Then there were six hungry men
They had nine dollars each ( Yeah!) And they went downtown, and the waiter said
"Sit down!" Oh, it makes a big difference how you spread
it around. Six time nine is 54, nine times six
See that prince over there? (Yeah!) The one with the fuzzy hair.
He's got six rings on every finger. He don't wash no dishes,
Not with 60 diamonds. Six time ten is 60, ten times six
He brought along eleven camels. Now, ain't that nice? (Ain't that nice)
Each one loaded down with six casks of oil and spice.
Brought quite a price. Six time eleven is 66, eleven times six
He had twelve wives. He better be rich.
Each one had six kids - six children each. Six time twelve is 72, twelve times six
But me, I got six. (I got six) That's all there is. (That's all there is)
Six times one is six, one times six. I got six. (I got six)
That's all there is. (That's all there is)
Now you can call me Lucky, 'cause Lucky's my name.
Singin' and dancin', that's my game. I never did a whole day's work in my life,
Still everything seems to turn out right. Like a grasshopper on a summer's day,
I just love to play, And pass the time away,
'Cause I was born 'neath a lucky star. They said I'd go far.
Makin' people happy, that's my favorite game. Lucky Seven is my natural name.
Slippin' and slidin' my whole life through, Still I get everything done that I got to
do, 'Cause I was born 'neath a lucky star.
School is where you are? Aw, that's not hard.
Let me show you something.
You multiply seven times one, I got seven days to get that problem done.
Multiply seven times two, Take 14 laughs when you're feelin' blue.
Multiply seven times three, A 21-day vacation you can play with me.
Multiply seven times four, You got 28 days (that's-a one month more)
To pay the mortgage on your store. Don't worry. Something will turn up!
Multiply seven times five, I don't know how you did it, but man alive,
that's 35. Multiply seven times six,
Grab a stick and make a 42 clickety-clicks. Multiply seven times seven,
Take 49 steps right up to seventh heaven. Multiply seven times eight,
They got 56 flavors and I just can't wait. Multiply seven times nine,
63 musicians, all friends of mine. Multiply seven times ten,
And that brings you right back to 70 again.
You know, I think that's important. There's a trick there somewhere.
Multiply seven times eleven, Even a rabbit knows that's 70 plus 7.
Multiply seven times twelve, You got 84, and isn't that swell.
I'm gonna try seven times 13, just for fun, 70 plus 21.
Seven times 14 must be great, Well, exactly, that's a 70 plus 28.
Seven times 15, man alive, That's 70 plus 35 ... a hundred and five!
Man, this stuff is simple - no jive. You got it, now I gotta fly.
Excuse me folks, I'm saying goodbye. I sure do thank you for the huckleberry pie.
Take it home, boys.
Remember Lucky Seven Samson, that's my natural born name.
If you should ask me again, I'd have to tell you the same.
You'll wake up tomorrow, you'll be glad that I came
'Cause you'll be singin one of the songs that I sang.
So keep a happy outlook and be good to your friend,
And maybe I'll pass this way again. Maybe!
Bye.
Figure eight as double four, Figure four as half of eight.
If you skate, you would be great If you could make a figure eight.
That's a circle that turns 'round upon itself.
One times eight is two times four. Four times four is two times eight.
If you skate upon thin ice, You'd be wise if you thought twice
Before you made another single move.
One times eight is eight, two times eight is 16,
Three times eight is 24, four times eight is 32,
And five times eight is 40, you know.
Six times eight is 48, seven times eight is 56,
Eight times eight is 64, nine times eight is 72,
And ten times eight is 80, that's true.
Eleven times eight is 88, and twelve times eight is 96.
Now, here's a chance to get off On your new math tricks.
'Cause twelve times eight is the same as Ten times eight plus two times eight
80 plus 16 ... ninety-six!
One times eight is eight, two times eight is 16,
Three times eight is 24, four times eight is 32,
And five times eight is 40, you know.
Figure eight as double four, Figure four as half of eight.
If you skate, you would be great, If you could make a figure eight.
That's a circle that turns 'round upon itself.
Place it on its side and it's a symbol meaning Infinity...
Number nine will put you on the spot. Number nine will tie you up, oh, in a knot.
When you're tryin', Multiplyin' by nine,
You might give it everything you've got And still be stopped.
If you don't know some secret way you can check on,
You'll break your neck on Naughty number nine.
Now the first thing to keep in mind, When you're multiplyin' by nine
Is that it's one less than ten. You see, nine is the same as ten minus one.
So you could multiply your number by ten, And then subtract the number from the result,
And you'd get the same product As if you'd multiplied by nine
And you knew it.
I mean, eight times nine is 80 minus eight, And seven times nine is 70 minus seven, and
six times nine is 60 minus six. You could use those tricks.
'Cause you must have some secret way you can beat it,
Or else you'll meet it With naughty number nine.
Of course, it doesn't hurt To know the table of nines by memory.
It goes like this: One times nine is nine, and two times nine
is 18. (Mean ol' number nine)
Three times nine is 27, and four times nine is 36.
Five times nine is 45, and six times nine is 54,
And seven times nine is 63. Eight times nine is 72, and nine times nine
is 81, And ten times nine is 90.
Now the digit sum is always equal to nine.
I mean, if you add two and seven, the digits,
You get nine, the digit sum. That's true of any product of nine.
If they don't add up, you've made a mistake. 'Cause you must have some secret way you can
check it, Or else you'll wreck it
With naughty, nasty, mean old number nine.
Good, good, good, good, the good eleven, yeah It's almost as easy as multiplyin' by one.
Good, good, good, good eleven. (Mmmm) Yes, eleven almost makes multiplication fun.
Some people get up at a quarter till seven, Other people lie abed till 8:45 or nine.
But I'm happy just to hang in there till eleven, 'Cause eleven has always been a friend of
mine.
Good, good, good, good eleven, Never gave me any trouble till after nine.
Good, good, good, good eleven. (Mmmm) Eleven will always be a friend of mine.
Now when you get a chance to multiply by eleven (eleven, Yeah!),
It's almost as easy as multiplying by one. You don't even have to use a pencil when you
use eleven, And eleven almost makes multiplication fun.
You know why? (Yeah!) Because you get those funny-looking double-digit
doojies as an answer. Like 22, 33, 44 and 55.
66, 77, 88, and 99 is your answer When you multiply 11 by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8 and 9.
Good, good, good, good eleven, Never gave me any trouble till after nine.
Good, good, good, good eleven. (Mmmm) I can always get that answer easy every time.
Now eleven times ten is the same is ten times eleven (ten times eleven),
It's 110 no matter what you do. And 121 is the answer to eleven times eleven,
And eleven times twelve is 132.
Eleven thirteens are 143, now. (That's 1-4-3) Eleven fourteens are 154. (Dig it, it's 1-5-4)
1-6-5 and 1-7-6 are fifteen and sixteen. You'd better pick up on the pattern,
'Cause I ain't got time to tell you any more.
I've got a date with the good eleven. She never gave me any trouble till after nine.
(Good, good, good, good) Good, g-g-g-good, eleven. (Mmmm)
Yes, eleven will always be a friend of mine.
Now if man had been born with 6 fingers on each hand, he'd also have
12 toes or so the theory goes. Well, with twelve digits, I mean
fingers, he probably would have invented two more digits when he
invented his number system. Then, if he saved the zero for the end,
he could count and multiply by twelve just as easily as you
and I do by ten.
Now if man had been born with 6 fingers on each hand, he'd probably
count: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, dek, el,
doh. "Dek" and "el" being two entirely new signs meaning ten and
eleven. Single digits! And his twelve, "doh", would be written 1-0.
Get it? That'd be swell, for multiplying by 12.
Hey Little Twelvetoes, I hope you're well. Must be some far-flung planet where you dwell.
If we were together, you could be my cousin, Down here we call it a dozen.
Hey Little Twelvetoes, please come back home.
Now if man had been born with 6 fingers on each hand, his children
would have 'em too. And when they played hide-and-go-seek they'd
count by sixes fast. And when they studied piano, they'd do their
six-finger exercises. And when they went to school, they'd learn the
golden rule, and how to multiply by twelve easy: just put down a
zero. But me, I have to learn it the hard way.
Lemme see now: One times 12 is twelve, two times 12 is 24.
Three times 12 is 36, four times 12 is 48, five times 12 is 60.
Six times 12 is 72, seven times 12 is 84. Eight times 12 is 96, nine times 12 is 108,
ten times 12 is 120. Eleven times 12 is 132, and 12 times 12 is
144. WOW!
Hey Little Twelvetoes, I hope you're thriving. Some of us ten-toed folks are still surviving.
If you help me with my twelves, I'll help you with your tens.
And we could all be friends. Little Twelvetoes, please come back home.