The associative property states that in a problem with three or more numbers, the solution is the same regardless of how you group the numbers. The commutative property is similar and states that you can change the order of the numbers and still have the same result. Both addition and multiplication are both associative and commutative.
When you add numbers together, you combine them to get the sum. The associative property states that, for example, the problems (5 + 3) + 6 and (3 + 6) + 5 have the same solution, which is 14. You can organize the three, or more, numbers in any grouping and get the same answer.
Multiplication is also associative and the property indicates that you can group the numbers in any way and get the same result. Use the problem (6 x 5) x (3 x 10) as an example. The result is 900. If you change the grouping of numbers to (10 x 5) x (6 x 3), you get 900. No matter how many numbers or groupings you have, the answer is always going to be the same in multiplication.
Both subtraction and division are not associative. How you group the numbers in either circumstance affects the outcome. For example, 5 - 9 = -4, while 9 - 5 is equal to 4. In division, if you have 20 divided by 5, your answer is 4. If you have 5 divided by 20, your answer is 1/4.