Multiplication is a basic arithmetic operation performed on two numbers. Multiplying a number by another number is the same as adding together groups of . For example, multiplied by is equal to groups of as shown below.
This site uses the following notation to represent multiplication. Note, the (times) symbol that is traditionally used in elementary math to represent multiplication is not used.
A dot between two numbers denotes multiplication in mathematics. The formal name for the dot symbol is an interpunct.
These examples demonstrate some basic multiplication operations. In each case, a good way to think about the operation is as a “groups of” operation. For example, the expression can be thought of as “three groups of four”. This can be mathematically expressed as shown below.
There are four properties of multiplication: the commutative property, associative property, and the identity property.
| Name | Property |
|---|---|
| Commutative Property | |
| Associative Property | |
| Identity Property | |
| Distributive Property |
Addition is a basic operation in mathematics for combining two numbers together. It is a binary operation denoted with the plus symbol with an expression on the left and an expression on the right.
The division operator returns the result of dividing one number by another number.
The exponentiation operator is a binary operator. The base is an expression or number that is being raised to some exponent. The exponent expression is denoted using superscript text.
The factorial operator calculates the product of all positive integers up to a given number, represented by an exclamation mark. It's used for counting and arranging items, calculating permutations and combinations, and appears in probability, statistics, and calculus.
The product operator is represented by the ∏ (product) symbol and is used to represent the operation of multiplying a sequence of expressions together.