Commutative property
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In mathematics, a binary operation <math>*</math> on a set A is said to be commutative if for all <math>x,y</math> in A we have <math>x*y=y*x</math>. An Example of a commutative operation is addition in the real numbers. When a group's operation is commutative, it is said to be abelian.
In laymen's terms, an equation is commutative when the constants or variables can be moved around an operation without changing the answer (e.g. 1 + 2 = 2 + 1 or 2 * 3 = 3 * 2). It is as if the numbers are "commuting" from one place to another.