Scribd
Upload
33 views6 pages

Lesson 1 - Mathematical Laws and Closure Property

Uploaded by

Dolly Abrahams
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
33 views6 pages

Lesson 1 - Mathematical Laws and Closure Property

Uploaded by

Dolly Abrahams
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

GRADE 8 SUBJECT: MATHEMATICS

Lesson #1 2024-07-08
Topic: Number Theory
Sub-Topic: Mathematical Laws & Closure Property
Objectives:
Students will:
State and use the Mathematical Laws- Commutative,
Associative, and Distributive, Laws- to solve problems,
correctly,
Identify the Closure property, accurately
Content:
The Commutative Law
The "Commutative Laws" say we can swap numbers over and
still get the same answer.
For instance, when we add:
a+b=b+a
Example 1:

Or, when we multiply:


a×b=b×a
Example 2:

Example 3: Commutative percentages


Because a × b = b × a it is also true that a% of b = b% of a

51
8% of 50 = 50% of 8, which is 4

The Associative Law


For instance, when we add…
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c)

Or, when we multiply…


(a × b) × c = a × (b × c)

Example 1:
This: (2+4)+5 = 6+5 = 11
Has the same answer as this: 2+(4+5) = 2+9 = 11
Example 2:
This: (3×4)×5 = 12×5 = 60
Has the same answer as this: 3 × (4 × 5) = 3 × 20 = 60
Uses:
Sometimes it is easier to add or multiply in a different order:
What is 19 + 36 + 4?
19+36+4 = 19+(36+4)
= 19+40=59
Or to rearrange a little:
What is 2 × 16 × 5?
2×16×5 = (2×5)×16
= 10×16=160
The Distributive Law
The "Distributive Law" is the BEST one of all, but needs careful attention.
This is what it lets us do:

52

52
3 lots of (2+4) is the same as 3 lots of 2 plus 3
lots of 4 So, the 3× can be "distributed" across the 2+4,
into 3×2 and 3×4 And we write it like this:
a × (b + c) = a × b + a × c

Try the calculations yourself:


Example 1: 3 × (2 + 4) = 3 × 6 = 18
Example 2: 3×2 + 3×4 = 6 + 12 = 18
Either way gets the same answer.

In English we can say:


We get the same answer when we:
multiply a number by a group of numbers added together, or
do each multiplication separately then add them

Uses:
Sometimes it is easier to break up a difficult multiplication:
Example: What is 6 × 204?
6 × 204 = 6×200 + 6×4
= 1,200 + 24
= 1,224
Or to combine:
Example: What is 16 × 6 + 16 × 4?
16×6+16×4 = 16×(6+4)
=16×10
= 160

Note the following:

The Commutative Law does not work for subtraction or division:

Example:

12/3=4,
but 3/12=¼

53
The Associative Law does not work for subtraction or division:

Example:

(9–4)–3=5–3=2,
but 9–(4–3)=9–1=8

The Distributive Law does not work for division:

Example:

24/(4+8)=24/12=2,
but 24/4+24/8=6+3=9

The Closure Property


Before we go into the Law of Closure we must review the
different sets of numbers.
Numbers - The Basics
- - -
Integers - Any of the positive and negative whole numbers, ..., 3, 2, 1,
+ + +
0, 1, 2, 3, ... The positive integers, 1, 2, 3..., are called the natural numbers
or counting numbers. The set of all integers is usually denoted by Z or Z+
Natural Numbers - the set of numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, 15, 16, 17,....., that we see and use every day. The natural numbers are
often referred to as the counting numbers and the positive integers.
Whole Numbers - the natural numbers plus the zero.
Rational Numbers - any number that is either an integer "a" or is
expressible as the ratio of two integers, a/b. The numerator, "a", may be
any whole number, and the denominator, "b", may be any positive whole
number greater than zero. If the denominator happens to be unity, b = 1,
the ratio is an integer. If "b" is other than 1, a/b is a fraction.
Irrational Numbers - any number that cannot be expressed by an integer or the ratio
of two integers. Irrational numbers are expressible only as decimal fractions where
the digits continue forever with no repeating pattern. Some examples of irrational

numbers are
Real Numbers - the set of real numbers including all the
rational and irrational numbers.

Irrational numbers are numbers such as

54
Rational numbers include the whole numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, ...), the integers
(..., - 2, - 1, 0, 1, 2, ...), fractions, and repeating and terminating decimals.
Draw a line.
Put on it all the whole numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.....etc
then put 0
then put all the negatives of the whole numbers to the left of 0
........-10,-9,-8,-7,-6,-5,-4,-3,-2,-1,0
Then put in all of the fractions.
Then put in all of the decimals [some decimals aren't fractions]
Now you have what is called the "real number line"

The Law of Closure


Closure is when an operation (such as "adding") on members of a set
(such as "real numbers") always makes a member of the same set.
Example: when we add two real numbers we get another
real number 3.1 + 0.5 = 3.6
This is always true, so: real numbers are closed under addition
Example: subtracting two whole numbers might not make a
whole number 4−9=−5
−5 is not a whole number (whole numbers can't be
negative) So: whole numbers are not closed under subtraction
This is a general idea, and can apply to any sort of operation on any kind of set!

Example: the set of shirts


For the operation "wash", the shirt is still a shirt after washing.
So shirts are closed under the operation "wash".
For the operation "rip", a small rip may be OK, but a shirt ripped
in half ceases to be a shirt!
So shirts are not closed under
the operation "rip" Sets
A set is a collection of things (usually numbers). Examples:

55
Set of even numbers: {..., -4, -2, 0, 2, 4, ...}
Set of odd numbers: {..., -3, -1, 1, 3, ...}
Set of prime numbers: {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, ...}
Positive multiples of 3 that are less than 10:
{3, 6, 9} Let's look more closely at one set:
Example: Odd numbers {..., -3, -1, 1, 3, ...}
Is the set of odd numbers closed under the simple operations +
−× ÷ ? Adding? 3 + 7 = 10 but 10 is even, not odd, so no
Subtracting? 11 − 3 = 8 but 8 is even, not odd, so no
Multiplying? 5 × 7 = 35 yes ... in fact multiplying odd
Numbers always produce odd numbers, so odd numbers are
closed under multiplication
Dividing? 33/3 = 11 which looks good! But try 33/5 = 6.6
which is not odd, so no
As we just saw, just one case where it does NOT work is
enough to say it is NOT closed.
But to say it IS closed, we must know it is ALWAYS closed
(just one example could fool us).

Reference:
6. Mc Kenzie, et al (1993). Mathematics for Secondary Schools in Guyana
Bk 2. Ministry of Education, National Center for Educational Resource
Development, Georgetown, Guyana. Chapter 6, pages 57-59.

56

You might also like