Multiplication Table
A multiplication table is an array showing the result of applying a binary operator to elements of a given set
. For example, the following table is the multiplication table for ordinary multiplication.
 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 2 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
14 |
16 |
18 |
20 |
| 3 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
18 |
21 |
24 |
27 |
30 |
| 4 |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
24 |
28 |
32 |
36 |
40 |
| 5 |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
30 |
35 |
40 |
45 |
50 |
| 6 |
6 |
12 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
36 |
42 |
48 |
54 |
60 |
| 7 |
7 |
14 |
21 |
28 |
35 |
42 |
49 |
56 |
63 |
70 |
| 8 |
8 |
16 |
24 |
32 |
40 |
48 |
56 |
64 |
72 |
80 |
| 9 |
9 |
18 |
27 |
36 |
45 |
54 |
63 |
72 |
81 |
90 |
| 10 |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
60 |
70 |
80 |
90 |
100 |
The results of any binary mathematical operation can be written as a multiplication table. For example, groups have multiplication tables, where the group operation is understood as multiplication. However, different labelings and orderings of a multiplication table may describe the same abstract group. For example, the multiplication table for the cyclic group C4 may be written in three equivalent ways--denoted here by
,
, and
--by permuting the symbols used for the group elements (Cotton 1990, p. 11).
The first such table can be written as follows.
The multiplication table for a second representation
may be obtained from
by interchanging
and
.
And finally, a multiplication table for the third representation
can be obtained from
by interchanging
and
.
REFERENCES:
Cotton, F. A. Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd ed. New York: Wiley, 1990.