The Distributive Property

Numbers are numbers. They represent value. Of the 10 numbers you are given, you can do anything. It takes two numbers just to say that. Of those numbers, I bet you didn’t know that 6 is a vegetarian. Or that 8 likes the color red, and 0, is just 0. And a big difference between numbers is how they like their space.

The number 3 loves it space. It needs to be separate from other numbers, so being in equations all day doesn’t please it. That’s why 3 is so fond of parenthesis. It gives a number space from other things.

One day, 3 was hanging out with its buddy d. They were sitting in a pair of parenthesis when along came 2. Little fact about 2, it hates parenthesis. When 2 saw the parenthesis, he knew a few numbers and variables were hiding inside. 2 walked up to the parenthesis and knocked.

“Can I come in?”

3 walked to the edge. “No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“You need to share with everyone if you want to come in.”

2 sat outside the parenthesis in defeat, until he thought “If I can get ahold of something sweet, I’ll be let in.”

So somehow 2 got ahold of some Twizzlers. He strolled up to the parenthesis and knocked again.

“What do you want 2?”

“I have Twizzlers.”

3 poked its head (do numbers have heads?) over the parenthesis. “Twizzlers?”

“That’s right.” 2 waved the Twizzlers around. “Twizzlers. Can I come in?”

3 pondered. “No.”

2 shook with anger. He knocked down the parenthesis. The variable d was trapped under the broken parenthesis. 2 stuck the two together. Then it rushed 3 and used the power of multiplication to create 6.

After 2’s stunt with the Twizzlers, all sorts of numbers have been using this little trick to break parenthesis. One number outside a parenthesis will knock down the wall and spread its value across the enter area, simplifying equations and expressions. As for 3, it rarely got any more quality alone time with d or any other variable for that matter. That was the birth of the Distributive Property.