Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The associative law states that the grouping of operations does not affect the result. In other words, it doesn't matter how you group the operations, the outcome will be the same.
Related terms
Commutative Law: This law states that changing the order of operations does not change the result.
Identity Element: It refers to an element in a set that when combined with another element using an operation, leaves that element unchanged.
Closure Property: This property states that when two elements from a set are combined using an operation, the result is always within that same set.