The associative property of addition means that the order in which you add terms doesn't matter.
(1 + 2) + 3 = (2 + 3) + 1 = (1 + 3) + 2
* * * * *
NO! The above answer is conflating the associative and commutative properties.
The associative property for addition states that
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c)
The order in which the operations are carried out does not matter. And, as a result, either can be written, without ambiguity, as a + b + c
The associative property DOES NOT state that a + b = b + a. The order of the terms DOES matter. For that you need the operation to be commutative.
There are mathematical operations that are associative but not commutative (matrix multiplication, for example).
When elements are grouped without change of order, as:
(a+b)+c=a+(b+c)
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Addition identity.
you dont
( 2 + 7 ) + 10 = ( 7 + 10 ) + 2 ( 3 * 9 ) * 4 = 3 * ( 9 * 4 ) The associative property means you can move the terms of the expression around without changing the value. Multiplication and addition are both associative.
a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c for any [ordinary] numbers a, b, and c.
No, the associative property only applies to addition and multiplication, not subtraction or division. Here is an example which shows why it cannot work with subtraction: (6-4)-2=0 6-(4-2)=4