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Exercises Expressions, exponents and radicals

Example 7.5 from Prealgebra, 7.2 Commutative and Associative Properties

Commutative and Associative Properties: example 7.5

Use the commutative properties to rewrite the following expressions:

ⓐ $−1 + 3 =_____$
ⓑ $4 \cdot 9 =_____$

Work it out on paper first. Then open the solution one step at a time, and stop as soon as you can finish on your own.

Solution

ⓐ

$−1 + 3 =_____$

Use the commutative property of addition to change the order. $6 \cdot 12 =_____$

ⓑ

$4 \cdot 9 =_____$

Use the commutative property of multiplication to change the order. $4 \cdot 9 = 9 \cdot 4$

Your turn

The book's Try It right after this example: same idea, new numbers. Only the answer is given.

Use the commutative properties to rewrite the following:

ⓐ $−4 + 7 =_____$
ⓑ $6 \cdot 12 =_____$

How did it go?

PreviousRational and Irrational Numbers: example 7.4 Next Commutative and Associative Properties: example 7.6

From Prealgebra (1st edition) by OpenStax (Rice University), section 7.2, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Original at openstax.org. We split the solution into steps; the words, numbers and figures are the book's. OpenStax doesn't endorse this site.