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What is the distributive property of

multiplication?
The distributive property tells us that the multiplication of a number by a sum is equal
to the sum of the multiplications of said number by each of the addends.

Let's see it with the example: 2 x (3 + 5)

According to the distributive property, 2 x (3 + 5) will be equal to 2 x 3 + 2 x 5

Let's check if this is true.

2 x (3 + 5) = 2 x 8 = 16

2 x 3 + 2 x 5 = 6 + 10 = 16

In both cases the result is 16, so we can verify that the distributive property of
multiplication is completely true.

I hope my explanation helps you learn or understand this important property of

multiplication.

Examples of distributive property

Well, the distributive property is that by which the multiplication of a number by a sum
will give us the same as the sum of each of the addends multiplied by that number.

For example:

3 x (4 + 5) = 3 x 4 + 3 x 5
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But we can also apply the distributive property in the other sense, calling it then taking
out the common factor, and it goes like this:

2 x 6 + 2 x 9 = 2 x (6 + 9)

Vamos a ver dos ejemplos más:

Let's see two more examples:

Distributiva: 8 x (13 – 1) = 8 x 13 – 8 x 1 = 8 x 13 – 8

Sacar factor común: 12 x 3 x 2 + 3 x 6 + 7 x 3 = 3 x (12 x 2 + 6 + 7)

Distributive: 8 x (13 – 1) = 8 x 13 – 8 x 1 = 8 x 13 – 8

Take common factor: 12 x 3 x 2 + 3 x 6 + 7 x 3 = 3 x (12 x 2 + 6 + 7)

How to apply distributive property to mathematics

problems
To understand it better, let's see an example of the distributive property in a problem.

Paula is preparing her birthday party, where she will distribute candy to all her friends.
To do this, you will put them in bags with 5 strawberry candies, 4 lemon candies and 3
mint candies each. He has decided that he will give away 10 bags of candy. How many
candies will he give away in total?
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To solve the problem, the important thing is that we know the number of candies of
each type that are in each bag and the number of bags. Therefore, we can solve this
problem in two different ways:

a) We find the total number of candies that will be put in each bag and then we multiply
by the number of bags:

5 + 4 + 3 = 12 caramelos en cada bolsa

12 x 10 = 120 caramelos en total

5 + 4 + 3 = 12 candies in each bag

12 x 10 = 120 candies in total

b) We find the total number of candies of each flavor and then we add them:

• 5 strawberry candies in 10 bags: 5 x 10 = 50 strawberry candies

• 4 lemon candies in 10 bags: 4 x 10 = 40 lemon candies

• 3 peppermint candies in 10 bags: 3 x 10 = 30 peppermint candies

We add all the candies: 50 + 40 + 30 = 120 candies in total

We see that we have obtained the same result through both paths, so we can choose
the path that is easiest for us.