In this exercise, students are introduced to the distributive property of multiplication, a mathematical principle that simplifies complex multiplication problems by breaking them into smaller, more manageable parts. The worksheet begins with a brief explanation of the distributive property, followed by a step-by-step example to illustrate its application.
To solve 4 x 12 using the distributive property, we can break down 12 into two easier numbers: 2 and 10. This means we can write 12 as 2 + 10. Instead of multiplying 4 by 12 directly, we can use the distributive property to split the problem into two parts: first, multiply 4 by 2, which equals 8, and then multiply 2 by 10, which equals 20. Finally, you combine those two results: 8 + 20 equals 28, which is the answer to 4 x 12.