Which property allows rearranging the order of addition without changing the sum?

• A. Associative Property
• B. Commutative Property
• C. Distributive Property
• D. Identity Property

Answer: (C)

Swapping the order of numbers in an addition doesn’t change the total. This is the commutative property of addition. For example, 8 + 5 equals 5 + 8, and with three numbers, a + b + c can be rearranged to b + a + c without changing the sum. This idea lets you rearrange addends to make mental math easier or to group numbers in a way that’s simpler to add. It’s different from the associative property, which allows regrouping (like (a + b) + c = a + (b + c)); from the distributive property, which involves multiplying across a sum (like a(b + c) = ab + ac); and from the identity property, which states that adding zero leaves a number unchanged (a + 0 = a).