What is Commutative Property?

As we already discussed in the introduction, as per the commutative property or commutative law, when two numbers are added or multiplied together, then a change in their positions does not change the result. 

Examples

• 2+3 = 3+2 = 5
• 2 x 3 = 3 x 2 = 6
• 5 + 10 = 10 + 5 = 15
• 5 x 10 = 10 x 5 = 50

So, there can be two categories of operations that obeys commutative property:

• Commutative property of addition
• Commutative property of multiplication

History

Although the official use of commutative property began at the end of the 18th century, it was known even in the ancient era.

The word, Commutative, originated from the French word ‘commute or commuter’ means to switch or move around, combined with the suffix ‘-ative’ means ‘tend to’. Therefore, the literal meaning of the word is tending to switch or move around. It states that if we swipe the positions of the integers, the result will remain the same.