How to ask a simple maths / arithmetic question I'm trying to internalize numbers by forcing myself to think of them numerically rather than associating them with their English translations. So I thought it might be a good idea to learn my times table in Mandarin using Anki flashcards.

Is the following a valid way to ask an arithmetic question that expects a number as an answer?

七乘以六等于什么

I've tried to search for an answer online, but I can only find examples of arithmetic statements and equations, not questions. Is it ok to take an equation and change the right hand side to 什么 as I've done above, or is there a more idiomatic way?
The method is correct, but the word should be '几' , not '什么'. If you ask 等于什么? it will 等于数字 ever, brain-teaser :)

几 is used more when you calculate simple questions, can be replaced with 多少 which is a common word.

七乘以六等于几?
七乘以六等于多少?

12345乘以4545等于几?(acceptable, but 多少 is more appropriate due to the complexity).


you can cut the 以, there's no difference in practice.