The following are true of the Associative Property:

• It applies to addition and multiplication.


• The grouping of the addends does not change the sum.


• The grouping of the factors does not change the product.


• It cannot be used with subtraction or division.

Addition : a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c
Multiplication : (a ∙ b) ∙ c = a ∙ (b ∙ c)

Click on the link below to see examples of the Associative Property.

Associative Property Card Sort Activity

(14 + 7) + 3 = (7 + 14) + 3

(12 ∙ 3) ∙ 2 = (3 ∙ 12) ∙ 2

These are examples of the Commutative Property.