Quick Answer:
Result: $2 \times 1 = 2$ through $2 \times 10 = 20$ (the even numbers)
Notation: $2 \times n$, read "two times $n$"
Method shown: Repeated addition and doubling
Pattern: Every product ends in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8
Extended: continues $2 \times 11 = 22$ … $2 \times 20 = 40$
Multiplication Table of 2
The full 2 times table sits in two short blocks: the core facts up to ten, then the extension to twenty.
Table of 2 up to 10
Multiplication | Product |
|---|---|
$2 \times 1$ | 2 |
$2 \times 2$ | 4 |
$2 \times 3$ | 6 |
$2 \times 4$ | 8 |
$2 \times 5$ | 10 |
$2 \times 6$ | 12 |
$2 \times 7$ | 14 |
$2 \times 8$ | 16 |
$2 \times 9$ | 18 |
$2 \times 10$ | 20 |
Table of 2 up to 20
Multiplication | Product |
|---|---|
$2 \times 11$ | 22 |
$2 \times 12$ | 24 |
$2 \times 13$ | 26 |
$2 \times 14$ | 28 |
$2 \times 15$ | 30 |
$2 \times 16$ | 32 |
$2 \times 17$ | 34 |
$2 \times 18$ | 36 |
$2 \times 19$ | 38 |
$2 \times 20$ | 40 |
Table of 2 in Words
Reading the table aloud is how most children lock it in, so here it is spoken row by row:
One times 2 is 2
Two times 2 is 4
Three times 2 is 6
Four times 2 is 8
Five times 2 is 10
Six times 2 is 12
Seven times 2 is 14
Eight times 2 is 16
Nine times 2 is 18
Ten times 2 is 20
What Is the 2 Times Table?
The 2 times table is what you get by multiplying 2 by each whole number in turn, and multiplying by 2 is just repeated addition of 2. Writing $2 \times 6$ is shorthand for adding 2 six times, and you can watch the answer build one step at a time:
$$2,; 2+2 = 4,; 2+2+2 = 6,; 2+2+2+2 = 8,; 2+2+2+2+2 = 10$$
There is a second way to read the same thing. $2 \times 6$ also means "double 6," because doubling a number is multiplying it by 2 — both give 12.
Multiples of 2
The products in the table are the multiples of 2. The first twelve are:
$$2,; 4,; 6,; 8,; 10,; 12,; 14,; 16,; 18,; 20,; 22,; 24$$
Every entry in the table is a multiple of 2, and the multiples of 2 are exactly the even numbers. That is why "is this number even?" and "is this number in the 2 times table?" are the same question.
How to Learn the 2 Times Table (Patterns, Not Memorizing)
Bhanzu does not drill a hundred separate facts into a child's head. It teaches the few patterns that generate the whole table, so a student builds number sense and the mental agility they carry into algebra, rather than flashcard recall that fades. The 2 times table is the cleanest place to see how a small idea rebuilds every fact.
Multiplying by 2 is doubling. $2 \times n$ is just $n$ added to itself, so any fact you forget you can rebuild by doubling. $2 \times 7$ is 7 and 7, which is 14. The 2 times table and doubling are the same skill, not two.
The units digit cycles 2, 4, 6, 8, 0. This repeat is the structure of base ten: each step adds 2, and after five steps the ones digit returns to where it started. Once you see the cycle, you can reason out the next product instead of recalling it.
Every product is even. Adding 2 to an even number always lands on another even number, and you start from 2, so the whole table stays even. An odd answer is a built-in signal that something is off, a check the child can run alone.
The matching-hands picture makes doubling visible. Hold up a set of fingers, then a matching set beside it. Two equal groups are doubling you can see, which is why the pattern feels obvious before any fact is recalled.
One thing worth saying twice: a child who can double can already reason out the whole table. The point is not to store ten answers, but to understand the one pattern that produces them.
How to Read and Use the 2 Times Table
Read a row left to right: in $2 \times 7 = 14$, the 2 is the number you are counting in, the 7 is how many groups you have, and 14 is the total. To learn it, chant the products in order while skip-counting, then test yourself out of order so the facts come loose from the chant. Five minutes a day, spaced across a week, beats one long session — spaced practice is what moves a fact from "I can work it out" to "I just know it."
Where the 2 Times Table Appears
The 2 times table is hiding in plain sight every time something comes in pairs — shoes, socks, eyes, and bicycle wheels are all counted in twos. It sits underneath the idea of even versus odd: a number is even precisely when it lands in this table. The same doubling logic later powers binary, the base computers run on.
Solved Examples
Example 1
Find $2 \times 6$ using repeated addition.
$$2 \times 6 = 2+2+2+2+2+2$$ $$= 12$$
Final answer: $2 \times 6 = 12$.
Example 2
Richard reads 2 pages every day. How many pages does he read in a week?
A first instinct is to add 2 and 7 and write 9 — but that counts pages and days together, which makes no sense.
A week is 7 days, and each day is one group of 2 pages, so this is $2 \times 7$, not $2 + 7$.
$$2 \times 7 = 14$$
Final answer: Richard reads 14 pages in a week.
Example 3
What is $2 \times 13$?
Split 13 into 10 and 3.
$$2 \times 10 = 20$$ $$2 \times 3 = 6$$ $$20 + 6 = 26$$
Final answer: $2 \times 13 = 26$.
Example 4
A pair of socks costs 2 dollars. How much do 9 pairs cost?
$$2 \times 9 = 18$$
Final answer: 9 pairs cost 18 dollars.
Example 5
Fill in the missing factor: $2 \times \square = 16$.
Ask which number doubled gives 16. Half of 16 is 8.
$$2 \times 8 = 16$$
Final answer: the missing factor is 8.
Common Mistakes with the 2 Times Table
Mistake 1: Adding instead of multiplying
Where it slips in: When a child reads $2 \times 5$ and the "2" pulls their eye toward addition.
Don't do this: Writing $2 \times 5 = 7$ by adding 2 and 5.
The correct way: $2 \times 5$ means five 2s added up, or 5 doubled — both give 10.
Mistake 2: Landing on an odd answer
Where it slips in: Rushing through the higher facts like $2 \times 9$ or $2 \times 13$.
Don't do this: Writing $2 \times 9 = 17$.
The correct way: Every product in this table is even, so an odd answer is the signal to recheck — $2 \times 9 = 18$.
The first-instinct error here is almost always the rusher's: they double, then quietly add one extra because the number "feels" too small. Catching the even-number rule once tends to fix it, because it hands the child a check they can run on their own.
Practice Questions
$2 \times 4 = \square$
$2 \times 7 = \square$
$2 \times 11 = \square$
Fill in the missing factor: $2 \times \square = 20$.
A bicycle has 2 wheels. How many wheels on 8 bicycles?
Which is larger, $2 \times 9$ or $2 \times 8$?
$2 \times 15 = \square$
True or false: every answer in the 2 times table is even.
Answers: 1. 8 · 2. 14 · 3. 22 · 4. 10 · 5. 16 wheels · 6. $2 \times 9 = 18$ is larger · 7. 30 · 8. True.
Related Multiplication Tables
Start from the tables from 1 to 20 for the full set. Once the doubling step is automatic, the tables that build on twos come next: the 4 times table (twos doubled), the 6 times table, the 8 times table, and the 12 times table. For more pattern-based shortcuts, see Bhanzu's guide to math tricks.
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