Watch: Adding 4 digits
The basic method for adding numbers with 4 digits or more is to use column addition.
Watch this video to remind yourself about how to use column addition to add up numbers with 3 digits. You can use the same technique for bigger numbers.
Column addition
The column addition method involves writing one number from the sum underneath the other.
Add the numbers, starting from the right.
If the two numbers in a place value column add up to a number greater than 9, you must carry a digit.
Example 1
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Example 2
Emily thinks that 27,342 + 22,812 = 49,154. Is she correct?
Emily hasn鈥檛 shown her working out so use the column method to check her answer.
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Emily answered 49,154 which is incorrect. She had forgotten to carry her thousand and ten thousand over to the correct place value!
Always remember to check your work. Have you added on the carried values?
Checklist
Set the numbers you are adding in columns according to place value.
It doesn't matter which number in the sum goes first. For example, 23,345 + 11,129 is the same as 11,129 + 23,345.
Estimate a rough answer before you start adding.
Start from the right, adding the ones column first.
Key words - look out for these words in problems: total, sum, altogether, more. They all indicate an addition calculation.
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