Question

ed arranged some tiles in different arrays. One array has 3 rows with 6 tiles in each row. The other array has 2 rows with 9 tiles in each row. Ed says that he can use the commutative property to show that the arrays both have 18 tiles. is he correct? explain

Answer 1

The commutative property lets you swap the order of operands. It would let Ed write

... 3×6 = 6×3

or

... 2×9 = 9×2

I don't see how this shows both arrays have 18 tiles. I would say Ed is not correct.

_____

On the other hand, Ed could use the associative property to show that ...

... 3×(3×2) = (3×3)×2

which is to say

... 3×6 = 9×2

This seems to be what Ed is trying to show.