Multiplication is a simple operation, but there are several characteristics that can be analyzed in the multiplication. The first thing is that normally when you multiply something by 0 it becomes 0. For example 0 times 3 is equal to zero, and zero times 5 is also equal to zero. And if we now have 5 times 3, then the answer is 15.
But 5 is not the same as 2 plus 3. So 2 plus 3 times 3 has to give the same answer as 15. But there is a rule to see that this product reaches the value 15, we must do the distributive of the equation, in that each sum value in the product, multiplies the value of the product. This means for example that two will multiply 3, and 3 will multiply 3. So we have that twice 3 is 6, and 3 times 3 and 9, and 6 plus 9 is equal to 15.
Now let's say we don't know the value 2, and we call it "x", when doing the distributive, we have 3 times "x" plus 3 times 3 equal to 15, three times 3 is nine, according to the rule we can pass 9 to the other side of the equal now negative, and 15 minus 9 is equal to 6, which multiplies the "x", you can divide the 6, and so we have that the "x" is equal to 2, as we already knew.
Now let's go back to 5 times 3 which is equal to 15, we know that 2 plus 3 is 5, and we know that 2 plus 1 is equal to 3, and now we can make the product of two sums.
Usually people wonder why making something difficult can be facilitated. This is an interesting question, the point is that simple things are often built by complicated mechanisms. And understanding these complicated mechanisms can solve problems. Calculation of profit, income, costs, and several other things we have in life, if we learn the basics, people will hardly deceive us. A person with simple knowledge is easily deceived.
But returning to the exercise, we now have to distribute the product in two sums. So each value of the first sum, multiplies each value of the second sum. So we have 2 times 1, and 2 times 2, then we take 3 and multiply by 1, and again 3 multiplies 2. And now we have 2 plus 4 plus 3 plus 6, this equals 15, if we add 2 plus 4 we have 6, and if we add 3 plus 6 we have 9, and 6 plus 9 is 15.
See that again we get the same answer.
But now let's say again that 2 is the "x" and replace.
Some people will analyze that it seems that there are no limits to make something simple get complicated. But that's the way it is, what we think is simple is more complicated than it looks. There is a saying that the size of ignorance is proportional to the amount of things that we think are simple.
But let's get back to the exercise that we are complicating. Doing the distributive, we have "x" plus 2 times "x" plus 3 plus 6 equal to 15, and solving we have again that "x" is 2.
So we understand a property of numbers, which is distributive. It is one of the foundations of numbers, and will be used a lot in more advanced calculations.