Question

associative property

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

The associative property is one of the basic properties in mathematics that govern the grouping of numbers or variables when performing addition or multiplication. It states that the way in which numbers or variables are grouped does not affect the overall sum or product.

For addition, the associative property can be stated as (a + b) + c = a + (b + c). This means that when adding three or more numbers together, it does not matter in which order they are grouped, as the sum will be the same. For example, (4 + 2) + 3 = 4 + (2 + 3) = 9.

For multiplication, the associative property can be stated as (a * b) * c = a * (b * c). Similarly, when multiplying three or more numbers together, it does not matter in which order they are grouped, as the product will be the same. For example, (3 * 2) * 4 = 3 * (2 * 4) = 24.

In both addition and multiplication, the associative property allows us to regroup terms without changing the result. This property is often used to simplify calculations and expressions.