OpenMaths/Multiplication and division

Just like addition and subtraction, multiplication ($$x$$, $$.$$) and division (÷, $$/$$) are opposites of each other. Multiplying by a number and then dividing by the same number gets us back to the start again: Sometimes you will see a multiplication of letters as a dot or without any symbol. Don’t worry, its exactly the same thing. Mathematicians are efficient and like to write things in the shortest, neatest way possible. It is usually neater to write known numbers to the left, and letters to the right. So although 4$$x$$ and $$x$$4 are the same thing, it looks better to write 4$$x$$. In this case, the “4” is a constant that is referred to as the coefficient of x.
 * $$a$$ × $$b / b = a$$
 * $$5$$ x $$4 / 4 = 5$$
 * $$abc = a $$×$$ b $$×$$ c$$
 * $$a $$·$$ b $$·$$ c = a $$×$$ b $$×$$ c$$

The fact that $$ab = ba$$ is known as the commutative property of multiplication. Therefore, both addition and multiplication are described as commutative operations.