Let's roll up our sleeves and solve this. We have 500 and we're going to multiply it by 9, essentially adding 500 to itself 9 times.
Step 1: 0 + 500 = 500
Step 2: 500 + 500 = 1000
Step 3: 1000 + 500 = 1500
Step 4: 1500 + 500 = 2000
Step 5: 2000 + 500 = 2500
Step 6: 2500 + 500 = 3000
Step 7: 3000 + 500 = 3500
Step 8: 3500 + 500 = 4000
Step 9: 4000 + 500 = 4500

So, 500*9 = 4500