Question

Can the associative property be applicable to operations of subtraction and division ?

Answer 1

Answer :

We know natural numbers = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , ..... ( No fraction and no negative numbers )

And

Associative law is applicable on addition and multiplication not for subtraction and division , We can understand that , As :

For addition :

4 + ( 3 + 7 ) = ( 4 + 3 ) + 7

4 + 10 = 7 + 7

14 = 14 , Associative property is true for addition .

For Multiplication :

3 $\times$ ( 2 $\times$ 5 ) = ( 3 $\times$ 2 ) $\times$ 5

3 $\times$ 10 = 6 $\times$ 5

30 = 30 , Associative property is true for multiplication .

For subtraction :

9 - ( 5 - 4 ) = ( 9 - 5 ) - 4

9 - 1 = 4 - 4

8 $\ne$ 0 , Associative property is not true for subtraction .

For Division :

8 $÷$ ( 4 $÷$ 2 ) = ( 8 $÷$ 4 ) $÷$ 4

8 $÷$ 2 = 2 $÷$ 4

4 $\ne$ 0.5 , Associative property is not true for division .