5 + 5 + 5 shows 3 groups of 5, written as 3 × 5 = 15. The first factor is the number of groups (3) and the second is the size of each group (5).
Question 2 True / False
Multiplication generally makes a number bigger.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
This is true for whole numbers greater than 1, but multiplying by 1 keeps a number the same, and multiplying by 0 gives 0. This intuition also breaks down later when multiplying fractions or negative numbers.
Question 3 Short Answer
Why does 4 × 3 give the same result as 3 × 4?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Both equal 12. You can think of 4 × 3 as 4 groups of 3 and 3 × 4 as 3 groups of 4 — rearranging the same total number of objects into rows and columns gives the same count either way.
This is the commutative property of multiplication. An array model shows it clearly: a 4-row, 3-column grid has 12 squares whether counted by row or by column.