Mental Math Test

By Murat Şahin · Updated November 11, 2026 · How we test

How this mental math test works

Choose where you want to start (Easy, Medium or Hard) and press Start test. For 60 seconds you get one problem at a time: addition, subtraction or multiplication. Type your answer on the on-screen keypad or your keyboard and submit it with Enter (the keypad button) or the Enter key. Backspace or the ⌫ button deletes a digit. The problems also test how many digits you can juggle at once, the skill the number memory test isolates.

• A correct answer flashes green, a wrong one flashes red. Either way the next problem appears straight away, so there is no getting stuck.
• Every 4 correct answers take you up one level, up to level 8.
• Answers are never negative, so you never need a minus sign.
• The timer bar at the top shows how much of the minute is left.

What the levels contain

The starting level depends on the difficulty you pick: Easy starts at level 1, Medium at level 3 and Hard at level 5.

In subtraction the larger number always comes first.

How to read your score

Your score is the number of correct answers in 60 seconds. The card also shows the difficulty, your wrong answers, your accuracy and the time per correct answer, plus the level you reached.

Because the problems get harder as you go, a higher score means you handled harder problems, not only more of them. Scores at different difficulties are not directly comparable: 20 correct from a Hard start is a very different result from 20 from an Easy start. That is why each difficulty keeps its own personal best and history. We do not show an average, because there is no published norm for this exact mix of problems.

Why bigger problems take longer

Researchers who study mental arithmetic have long described a problem-size effect: problems with larger numbers take longer and produce more errors, even among adults who know their tables well. Mark Ashcraft's 1992 review in Cognition summarised this effect and the main theories behind it. Small facts like 3 × 4 are often retrieved straight from memory; larger ones like 17 × 6 have to be worked out in steps, and every step adds time and a chance of error.

That is also why this test ramps up. At low levels you are mostly measuring how quickly you recall facts. At higher levels you are measuring how well you hold partial results in mind while you finish the calculation, which leans on working memory; the working memory test measures that skill directly.

How to get faster

• Break problems apart. 17 × 6 is 10 × 6 + 7 × 6 = 60 + 42 = 102. 83 − 29 is easier as 83 − 30 + 1.
• Add from the left. For 456 + 378, do 400 + 300, then 50 + 70, then 6 + 8, and combine. It matches the way you say the number.
• Know your tables cold. Fast recall of 2–9 × 2–9 frees attention for the bigger problems.
• Do not chase every problem. A wrong answer costs nothing but time, so a quick guess on a hard one is better than freezing.
• Practise little and often. One minute a day is enough to see your score climb.

Limits of this test

Sixty seconds is short, and the problems are random, so a lucky run of easy multiplications can lift your score. Typing on a phone keypad is slower than on a physical number pad, so compare results on the same device. Stress also matters: feeling rushed can make simple sums harder. How accurately you sense passing seconds without a clock is a separate skill, tested by the time perception test.

This test is practice and a bit of fun. It does not measure intelligence or mathematical talent as a whole, and it is not a diagnosis of any kind.

More tests of attention, memory and thinking are on the memory and brain tests page.

Source

• Ashcraft, M. H. (1992). Cognitive arithmetic: A review of data and theory. Cognition, 44(1–2), 75–106.

Frequently asked questions