One of the laws relating to number operations.
In symbols, it is stated: a (b + c) = a b + a c . The monomial factor a is distributed, or separately applied, to each term of the polynomial factor b + c , resulting in the product a b + a c . It can also be stated in words: The result of first adding several numbers and then multiplying the sum by some number is the same as first multiplying each separately by the number and then adding the products. See also associative law ; commutative law .