A Little Trick Using Associative Property of Addition

I remember many years ago trying to memorize the handful of Math Properties, and some of them were easier to learn than others.  The Associative and Commutative Properties were the two properties that I had the most difficult time sorting out, for some reason.

As I teach my students each day, I encourage them to find a special way to memorize certain principles and formulas. 

Let's take a closer look at the Associative Property of Addition.  For many of us, we have many activities throughout life and we like to associate with certain friends as we enjoy those activities.  There are those other activities that we enjoy, but we prefer to be with other groups of friends.

The Associative Property works very similarly to our social needs, and let's see how we can apply numbers to gain a better understanding.  This property very simply states that if we are adding a few numbers, we can add them in groups and it doesn't matter which order we place them, the end result will be the same.

Here's a quick example:
1.)  What is the value of 2 + (3 + 5)?
Solution:
Step 1--Do the parenthesis first, (3 + 5) = 8.
Step 2--Add 2.
Answer: 2 + 8 = 10.

Now, let's regroup the numbers, using the parentheses around the first two numbers and see if we gain the same result.
2.) What is the value of (2 + 3) + 5?
Solution:
Step 1--Do the parenthesis first, (2 + 3) = 5.
Step 2--Add 5.
Answer: 5 + 5 = 10.

We can demonstrate several problems, and the principle remains the same.  As long as we are adding all of the numbers, we can reposition the parenthesis, and the result will be the same! 

Create a few examples on your own, and you'll see how easy it is!  Don't forget to share this great information with a friend!