Commutative Property of Addition and Multiplication

Videos, worksheets, stories and songs to help Grade 6 students learn about the Commutative Property of Addition and Multiplication.

What is the commutative property of addition and multiplication?
The commutative property tells us that it doesn’t matter which order we add or multiply in. We can write the rules like this:
Commutative property of addition: a + b = b + a
Commutative property of multiplication: ab = ba

The following diagrams show the Commutative Property of Addition and Multiplication. Scroll down the page for more examples and solutions.

Commutative property of addition and multiplication

Commutative property of addition and multiplication

The commutative property applies to addition and multiplication. This means that order doesn’t matter when adding or multiplying numbers.

Try the free Mathway calculator and problem solver below to practice various math topics. Try the given examples, or type in your own problem and check your answer with the step-by-step explanations.

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