What is Associative Property Of Addition?

To “associate” means to connect or join with something.

According to the associative property of addition, the sum of three or more numbers remains the same regardless of how the numbers are grouped.

Here’s an example of how the sum does NOT change irrespective of how the addends are grouped.

Associative property of addition example

Here’s another example.

( 75 + 81 ) + 34

= 166 + 34

= 200

75 + ( 81 + 34)

= 75 + 125

= 200

Fun Facts

The associative property always involves 3 or more numbers.
The numbers grouped within a parenthesis, are terms in the expression that considered as one unit.
There is also an associative property of multiplication. However, subtraction and division are not associative.