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Associative property of multiplication review

Review the basics of the associative property of multiplication, and try some practice problems.

What is the associative property?

The associative property is a math rule that says that the way in which factors are grouped in a multiplication problem does not change the product.
Example:
5, times, 4, times, 2
Let's start by grouping the start color #11accd, 5, end color #11accd and the start color #11accd, 4, end color #11accd together. We can evaluate the expression step by step.
empty space, left parenthesis, start color #11accd, 5, times, 4, end color #11accd, right parenthesis, times, 2
equals, start color #11accd, 20, end color #11accd, times, 2
equals, 40
Now let's group the start color #7854ab, 4, end color #7854ab and the start color #7854ab, 2, end color #7854ab together.
empty space, 5, times, left parenthesis, start color #7854ab, 4, times, 2, end color #7854ab, right parenthesis
equals, 5, times, start color #7854ab, 8, end color #7854ab
equals, 40
Regrouping does not change the answer!
Want to learn more about the associative property? Check out this video.
Want to know why the associative property is helpful? Check out this article.

Practice

Problem 1
  • Current
Which expressions are equivalent to start color #11accd, left parenthesis, 9, times, 2, right parenthesis, times, 5, end color #11accd ?
Choose all answers that apply:

Want to try more problems like this? Check out this exercise.

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