Question Video: Using Arrays to Investigate the Commutative Property Mathematics • Third Year of Primary School

Video Transcript

Compare the expressions. Pick the symbol that is missing. Five times six is greater than, equal to, or less than six times five.

The left array is five units tall times six units wide. The right array is six units tall times five units wide. One way we can evaluate these expressions is find out how many squares are in each array. So let’s count them.

There are 30 cubes total on the left. Now we can total the right side. There are also 30 square units on the right. This illustrates something important about five times six and six times five. They are equal. Five times six is equal to six times five.