Which of the following shows the commutative property of multiplication?

Question

1: a x 1 = a
2: a x b = b x a
3: a x (b x c) = ( a x b) x c
4: a x (-1) = -a

Answer 1

The commutative property of multiplication states that the order in which two numbers are multiplied does not affect the product. This property can be expressed as:

\[ a \times b = b \times a \]

From the options you provided, the statement that illustrates the commutative property of multiplication is:

2: a x b = b x a

The other options represent different properties of multiplication, but not the commutative property.