The Order of Operations and Variables:
The Distributive Property of Multiplication
A property is a characteristic about something that is always true. The distributive property of multiplication is a rule that is always true. There are many properties in math that you use regularly, like the commutative property (the property that says that you can multiply in any order, 2 × 3 = 3 × 2). The distributive property says that you can distribute a number being multiplied into parentheses. The following video will explain in more detail with some examples. Here is an example of the distributive property of multiplication.
\(2(1+3)=(2\cdot 1)+(2\cdot 3)=2+6=8\)
Video Source (03:11 mins) | Transcript
Video Source (03:13 mins) | Transcript
Additional Resources
- Khan Academy: Distributive Property (Addition) (04:55 mins, Transcript)
- Khan Academy: Distributive Property (Subtraction) (02:10 mins, Transcript)
- Khan Academy: Distributive Property Examples (03:02 mins, Transcript)
Practice Problems
Evaluate the following expressions:
- \(4(3+4)=?\)
- \((2+9)3=?\)
- \(-8(-2+5)=?\)
- \((-2+3)(-6)=?\)
- \((-9-4)(-8)=?\)
- \(-5(-7-(-6))=?\)
- \((-5-(-9))6=?\)