Associativity

When things are said to be associative, it means they follow a type of pattern. For example, if you have three numbers (2, 4, and 6) that follow a certain pattern (where each number is double the previous one), and you add them together, the way you group them won't change the answer. So if you add them like this (2 + 4 + 6) you'll get the same answer as if you add them like this (2 + (4 + 6) ). Because the answer will be the same no matter how you group them, we say that addition (adding numbers together) is associative.