Common Multiplication

Revision as of 10:14, 15 November 2007 by 10000th User (talk | contribs) (Multiplication moved to Ordinary Multiplication: The word '''multiplication''' has more broader definition and the one defined in this page provides information that only pertains to ordinary arithmetic.)

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In mathematics, multiplication is an arithmetic operation. The result of multiplying is the product. If one of the numbers is a whole number, multiplication is the repeated sum of that number. For example, $4\times3=4+4+4=12$. The inverse of multiplication is division.

To multiply fractions, the numerators and denominators are multiplied: $\frac{a}{c}\times\frac{b}{d}=\frac{a\times b}{c\times d}=\frac{ab}{cd}$.

Properties

  • Commutative property: $a\times b=b\times a$
  • Associative property: $a(b\times c)=(a\times b)c$
  • Distributive property: $a(b+c)=ab+ac$
  • Identity property: $a\times1=a$ and $a\times0=0$
  • Any number, except zero, multiplied by its reciprocal is equal to 1: $x\times\frac{1}{x}=1$