Question

describe the mental math steps you would use to find 7 (42)

Answer 1

Break 42 into 40 + 2. Multiply 40 x 7=280 and 2 x 7=14. Then add 280 + 14 = 294.

Answer 2

If you want to do step by step, you should start by breaking 42 into 40 and 2.
Then you multiply 7 by both 40 and 2. 7 times 40 is 280. 7 times 2 is 14. You could then add the two products and you get 294.
Or you could simply multiply 7 times 42.