This module is from Fundamentals of Mathematics by Denny Burzynski and Wade Ellis, Jr. This module discusses using the distributive property. By the end of the module students should understand the distributive property and be able to obtain the exact result of a multiplication using the distributive property.
Section overview
- The Distributive Property
- Estimation Using the Distributive Property
The distributive property
Distributive property
The
distributive property is a characteristic of numbers that involves both addition and multiplication. It is used often in algebra, and we can use it now to obtain exact results for a multiplication.
Suppose we wish to compute
. We can proceed in either of two ways, one way which is known to us already (the order of operations), and a new way (the distributive property).
- Compute
using the order of operations.
Operate inside the parentheses first:
.
Now multiply 3 and 7.
Thus,
.
- Compute
using the distributive property.
We know that multiplication describes repeated addition. Thus,
Thus,
.
Let's look again at this use of the distributive property.
The 3 has been
distributed to the 2 and 5.
This is the distributive property. We distribute the
factor to each
addend in the parentheses. The distributive property works for both sums and differences.
Sample set a
Practice set a
Use the distributive property to compute each value.
Estimation using the distributive property
We can use the distributive property to obtain exact results for products such as
. The distributive property works best for products when one of the factors ends in 0 or 5. We shall restrict our attention to only such products.
Sample set b
Use the distributive property to compute each value.
Notice that
. We now write
Thus,
We could have proceeded by writing 23 as
.
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Notice that
. We now write
Thus,
We could have proceeded by writing 37 as
.
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Notice that
. We now write
We could have proceeded by writing 86 as
.
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Practice set b
Use the distributive property to compute each value.
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Exercises
Use the distributive property to compute each product.
or
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Exercises for review