What does twice mean in math?

The word twice means “ two times “.  When we say “ P “ is twice that of  “Q “, it means that P is two times Q or double the value of Q. 

What does twice mean in math? Let us take an example.

Using twice to compare objects

We can use twice to compare the number of objects. Let us have 20 stars in a green bag. Now, if we have 40 stars in a red bag, we can say that the number of stars in the red bag is twice that of the number of stars in the green bag because 40 is twice of 20. 

Suppose you want to compare the number of sharpeners available with two children, say Alex and Samuel. If the number of sharpeners with any one of them is double or half the number of sharpeners the other child had, then we can write the number of sharpeners as two times the other. Consider the example below.

Example 1

Suppose Alex has 10 sharpeners which is twice the number of sharpeners that Samuel has. How many sharpeners are there with Samuel? 

Solution 1

Since the number of sharpeners that Alex has is twice the number of sharpeners that Samuel has, therefore, we can say that the number of sharpeners with Samuel = 10 / 2 = 5.

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Twice of a number

The twice of a number means exactly double of that number. Let us understand it through an example. Twice of a number can be obtained both in addition and subtraction numbers. Let us understand how.

Since twice of a number object means double of that number, this means we can just add the number / object to itself to get its twice. Let us take some examples

Twice of 4 balls = 4 + 4 = 8 balls

How can we use subtraction to find the twice of a number? Recall that in addition of numbers, the numbers that are added are called the addends while the result thus obtained is called the sum.

This means that if we add two numbers, say, 3 and 4, then the numbers 3 and 4 are called addends and the result, i.e.  3 + 4 = 7, is called the sum. In the case of finding the twice of a number through subtraction, when we subtract one of the addends from its twice to get the same number. Let us take an example.

Example 2

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Solution 2

We have been given that Rose has 6 cookies and Hamid has 3 cookies. We also know that 6- 3 = 3

So, 6 is the twice of 3. Now, this can also be read as “ if we subtract the number from its twice we will get the number itself “, i.e.  6 – 3 = 3

Example 3

Consider the following figure and answers the questions that follow –

• How many number of erasers are there in the given figure?
• How many number of apples are there in the given figure?
• How many number of bananas are there in the given figure?
• What is the relation between the number of apples and erasers?
• What is the relation between the number of bananas and erasers?

Solution 3

• There are 6 erasers in the given figure.
• There are 12 apples in the given figure.
• There are 3 bananas in the given figure.
• Since there are 6 erasers and 12 apples and we know that 6 + 6 = 12, therefore, we can say that the number of apples in the figure is twice that of the number of erasers.
• Since there are 6 erasers and 3 bananas and we know that 3 + 3 = 6, therefore, we can say that the number of erasers in the figure is twice that of the number of bananas.

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Half – the opposite of twice

The word half means dividing a number by 2. This is the opposite of the word twice which is obtained when we multiply a number by 2.  For example,

Twice of 2 balls = 2 + 2 = 4 balls . Now, half of 4 balls = 4 / 2 = 2 balls.

Example 4

Let us take a dozen doughnuts.

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Find the half and twice of the number of doughnuts

Solution 4

Now, the half of a dozen doughnuts would be 12 / 2 = 6 while the twice of a dozen doughnuts would be 12 + 12 = 24 doughnuts. So, we can summarize it as –

Example 5

Roger scored 120 runs in a cricket match against Australia. This was twice the number of runs scored by George. How many runs were scored by George?

Solution 5

We have been given that Roger 120 scored 120 runs in a cricket match against Australia. This was twice the number of runs scored by George. We can interpret it as “ The number of runs scored by George were half of that were scored by Roger. “This can be written s –

Number of runs scored by Roger in a cricket match = 120

Number of runs scored by George = Half of 120  = 120 / 2 = 60

Hence, the number of runs scored by George = 60

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