Make Math Moments Academy › Forums › Mini-Course Reflections › The Fundamentals of Mathematics › 2-1 – Addition – Discussion › Reply To: 2-1 – Addition – Discussion
-
For both addition and multiplication, the idea of moving quantities around is the commutative property.
Typically, we use the commutative property to help us re-associate quantities with other quantities to make simplification easier.
For example, when people see this expression:
7 + 9 + 3
The order of operations would suggest that 7 and 9 are “associated” and will be simplified through addition first. However, we might use the commutative property to reassociate the 7 with the 3 to make a 10:
7 + 3 + 9 = 10 + 9
10 + 9 = 19
The same is true with negative quantities as well 🙂