How is multiplication like repeated addition?

Answer 1

a*b is the same as a+a+a ... (do it with b lots of a).

One way of seeing this visually is to lay out counters (or tokens) in an a*b rectangle. The number of tokens in the rectangle are its length times its breadth ie a*b.

But you can also see the rectangle as made up of a rows of b tokens and the total number of tokens can be derived as a+a+a... (b times).

Answer 2

Oh, dude, it's like this - multiplication is basically just a fancy way of saying you're adding the same number over and over again. So, instead of being all dramatic and saying "I added 5 like 6 times," you can just chill and say "5 times 6 equals 30." It's like math's way of being efficient and saving you from saying the same thing a bunch of times.