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Associative Property of Addition
The associative property of addition states that when three or more numbers are added, the way in which they are grouped (using parentheses) does not affect the sum. For any real numbers , , and :
For example, to compute , one person might group it as , while another might group it as . Both groupings produce the same result. The word "associative" comes from "associate," meaning to group or connect — the addends can be regrouped freely without changing the total. This flexibility is especially useful when a particular grouping makes the arithmetic simpler, such as pairing numbers that sum to a round number.
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In a logistics report, a coordinator is summing the total weights of three different cargo shipments: Shipment A, Shipment B, and Shipment C. Which of the following equations correctly represents the Associative Property of Addition as it applies to these weights?
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