Short Answer 
The explanation covers the concept of multiplication as repeated addition, using an example involving houses, cats, mice, ears of corn, and sacks of grain. It details the calculations leading to a total of 19,607 items derived from successively multiplying and adding individual counts.
Step 1: Understanding Multiplication
Multiplication is a fundamental mathematical operation that involves adding a number to itself a certain number of times. For instance, the operation 3 ‚à öo 4 signifies that you add the number 3 to itself 4 times. This concept forms the basis for calculating totals in various sequences.
Step 2: Calculating Each Item in the Example
In the given example, we tally different items using multiplication:
- 7 houses, each with 7 cats gives us 49 cats (7 ‚à öo 7).
- Each of the 49 cats kills 7 mice, resulting in 343 mice (49 ‚à öo 7).
- Each of the 343 mice consumes 7 ears of corn, totaling 2,401 ears of corn (343 ‚à öo 7).
- Each ear of corn produces 7 sacks of grain, which amounts to 16,807 sacks of grain (2,401 ‚à öo 7).
Step 3: Finding the Total Number of Items
To calculate the total number of items involved, simply add all the individual counts together. The calculation is as follows:
- 7 (houses) + 49 (cats) + 343 (mice) + 2,401 (ears of corn) + 16,807 (sacks of grain).