The distributive law

Subtraction

The left and right distributive laws do hold for multiplication over subtraction.

The left distributive law of multiplication over subtraction is

\(a × (b − c) = a × b − a × c\)

For example:

5 × (7 − 2) = 5 × 7 − 5 × 2

The right distributive law of multiplication over subtraction is

\((b − c) × a = b × a − c × a\)

For example:

(7 − 2) × 5 = 7 × 5 − 2 × 5