Commutative Property of Multiplication | Math with Mr. J

welcome to math with Mr J [Music] in this video I'm going to cover what the commutative property of multiplication is now the commutative property of multiplication can be used all throughout math everything from basic math facts to working with more complex problems to simplifying algebraic expressions to whatever else the case may be the commutative property of multiplication is important to be familiar with now the commutative property of multiplication states that changing the order of factors doesn't change the product factors are the numbers being multiplied together and then the product is the answer to a multiplication problem so a times b equals the exact same thing as B times a when we think of the commutative property think commute or move we can move those factors around and still get the same answer now don't let those letters confuse you they are there to represent numbers and show that this will work for any numbers let's jump into our examples and see exactly what this means starting with number one where we have nine times four now nine times four equals 36 the commutative property of multiplication states that we can change the order of those factors and that will not change the product 4 times 9 is 36 as well and that's the commutative property of multiplication nine times four equals 36 and 4 times 9 equals 36. let's move on to number two where we have 5 times 67 times 2. we have three factors three numbers being multiplied together now we can use the commutative property of multiplication to make this problem simpler to work through so let's change the order here and switch the 2 and the 67 so we have five times two times sixty-seven now let's multiply starting with five times two which equals 10. bring down the multiplication sign and the 67. now we have 10 times 67 which equals 670. so we used the commutative property in order to change that order and we were able to do 5 times 2 which gave us that 10 and then multiplied the 10 by the 67. instead of starting with 5 times 67. now are we able to start with 5 times 67 and work from left to right without using the commutative property yes let's actually do that off to the side to show that we will still get 670. so let me rewrite this problem off to the side so 5 times 67 times 2. now we can work from left to right starting with 5 times 67. let's work through that off to the side so 67 times 5. 5 times 7 35 [Music] times 6 is 30 plus that 3 is 33 so 300 35 5 times 67 equals 335. bring down the multiplication sign and the two we end with 335 times 2. so 335 times 2. 5 times 2 is 10 2 times 3 is 6 plus 1 is 7 2 times 3 equals six 335 times 2 equals 670 so you can see that we get 670 that way as well so there you have it there's an explanation of the commutative property of multiplication just remember changing the order of factors the numbers being multiplied doesn't change the product the answer now the commutative property also applies to addition I dropped the link to my video on the commutative property of addition down in the description the commutative property does not apply to subtraction or division so something to keep in mind I hope that helped thanks so much for watching until next time peace