Rewriting Multiplication Problems Worksheets
As you progress forward with math you quickly come to realize that many of the problems you are confronted with are not in the best set of terms of orientation for you to be able to do your best with. If you ever find yourself in a situation like this, take a simple step back visualize everything in front of you. Can it be arranged in an easier way? Do you recognize like terms? Why not put those bad boys together and combine them into one? If you choose to get into this habit, the world becomes your oyster and you will have much smoother sailing. These worksheets and lessons help students learn a variety of ways to rewrite multiplication problems.
Aligned Standard: 3.OA.C.7
- Step-by-Step Lesson- How many snowflakes and snowflake sets do you see?
- Guided Lesson- It's a full circle to the soccer ball season.
- Guided Lesson Explanation- We show you how to arrange those soccer balls into an order of some type here.
- Picture Worksheet 1- Make mathematical sense of what you are being presented with here.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
- Sets (with help) Version 2 - You will find a great number of even digit numbers here.
- Homework 1 - Larger number sets to work with.
- Write the Problem: (no help) Homework 2 - As the title indicates no assistance is provided on these.
- Homework 3 - Loosely draw arrays.
- Practice 1 - Picture sets with assistance and guidance provided.
- Practice 2 - We threw a little color in here.
- Practice 3 - Totally raw integer sets that you need to give order to.
- Quiz 1 - A basic set with assistance worksheet set.
- Quiz 2 - Lateral sums that need to make into useful products.
Why Do We Rewrite Math Problems?
From here on you will occasionally run into math problems that at first sight baffle you. Believe me, if you have not come across this yet, you surely will at some point. When you run into a brick wall of a math problem, take a step back and see if the problem can be rewritten. Rewriting problems is just rearranging the values that are preset to make them more workable and as a result more user friendly. This can often help you move in a different direction than you would have thought of from the start. Once you have an equation or expression in a form that works for you everything becomes calmer for you to test your math skills with.
If it is an expression, look to see if anything can be combined or condensed. Always start with the constants, those are simple because they do not contain a variable and are just raw numbers. Then move to variables that have coefficients. A good start is to look from common denominators across everything.
What Are the Commutative and Associative Properties of Multiplication?
Addition and multiplication are closely related mathematical operations. Adding a number multiple times will give the result similar to the result of multiplying the number by the number of times addition was performed. For example,
2 + 2 + 2 = 6 | 2 x 3 = 6
It is important to notice that these two properties are relevant only to addition and multiplication. These properties do not cover the mathematical operations of subtraction and division. It is because in multiplication and addition changing the order of number doesn't affect the result. However, in division and subtraction, any change in the order of the number will affect the result.
Below, we have discussed the two main properties of multiplication, that is the commutative and associative properties:
Commutative Property of Multiplication - When two numbers are being multiplied, changing the order of numbers gives the same result. That is, changing the order of factors doesn't change the product. For example,
5 x 4 = 4 x 5 | 2 x 3 = 3 x 2
Associative Property of Multiplication - Associative property of multiplication can be taken as an extension of the commutative property. When multiplying more than two numbers, changing their order of multiplication results in the same result. Or changing the grouping of factors doesn't change the product. For example,
(2x 3) x 4 = 2 x (3 x 4)