Math - amber, Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 6:07pm
im not understanding the differnce bettween commutative and associative multiplication
http://www.aaamath.com/pro74b-propertiesmult.html
Associative property is like this:say you have 2x3=6 but if you change the problem around like this 3x2=6 you get the same answer both times so that is associative property. I hope this helps :)
Commutative and associative properties both apply to multiplication, but they represent different concepts.
1. Commutative Property of Multiplication:
The commutative property states that the order of multiplication does not affect the result. In other words, when you multiply two numbers, you will get the same answer regardless of the order in which you multiply them.
For example:
2 * 3 = 6
3 * 2 = 6
As you can see, swapping the order of multiplication does not change the result.
2. Associative Property of Multiplication:
The associative property states that the grouping of numbers being multiplied does not affect the result. This means that when you have more than two numbers to multiply, the order in which you group them does not affect the outcome.
For example:
(2 * 3) * 4 = 6 * 4 = 24
2 * (3 * 4) = 2 * 12 = 24
In both cases, we multiplied three numbers (2, 3, and 4), but by applying the associative property, we can group them differently without changing the final result.
Understanding these properties is important in simplifying expressions and solving equations, as it allows you to rearrange and group terms while preserving the value of the expression.