Write to explain how you can break apart 16 x 34 into four simpler multiplication problems

Think of the tens and the units separately:

16 x 34

= (10 + 6) (30 + 4)

Then we can distribute and get:

10 (30 + 4) + 6 (30 + 4)

And then further to get:

(10 x 30) + (10 x 4) + (6 x 30) + (6 x 4)

Each of these multiplications is easy enough to do in your head:

300 + 40 + 180 + 24

Add up the results:

300

180

I'm confused. Wow. I didn't know this could happen with a simple looking formula.