What is the rule for multiplication?

Since ancient times, mathematicians have used rules that apply to number operations to help solve multiplication problems.  The commutative property means that when you multiply two numbers together, the order that you multiply them does not matter, 7 x 8 = 8 x 7. The associative property means that the grouping of numbers does not matter when you are multiplying a series of factors together so that 3 x (4 x 2) = (2 x 4) x 3. The identity property means that any number multiplied by one equals that same number, so 12 x 1 equals 12. The multiplication property of 0 means that any number multiplied by zero equals zero so that 11 x 0 = 0.