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Commutative, in layperson's terms, means you can switch the order of the two numbers you're going to operate on.

Associative means, when you have two of the same operations between three numbers, that you can do either of the pairs first.

Examples of commutative:

3 + 5 = 8

5 + 3 = 8

1 + 17 = 17 + 1

With associative you really have to understand the purpose of the brackets.

2 + 3 + 4

(2 + 3) + 4

= 5 + 4

= 9

2 + (3 + 4)

= 2 + 7

= 9

And I hope you agree that this will work for any three real numbers and not just 2, 3 and 4.

Hope that helps.

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Q: What is commutative and associative property of addition?
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