Rule

Identity Property of Multiplication

Any number multiplied by 1 is equal to the number itself.

a *1=a

Because of this, the number 1 is called the Multiplicative Identity.

Proof

Informal Justification
Consider a number a. By the definition of multiplication, a multiplied by another number n can be written as n times the addition of a. a* n =a+a+... +a_(ntimes) If n=1, the sum has only one term. a* 1 =a_(1time) Therefore, a* 1 is equal to a. Also, by the Commutative Property of Multiplication, 1* a=a.

Exercises
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