Which expression demonstrates the commutativity of addition for the terms -3^0, a, and 4?

Which expression demonstrates the commutativity of addition for the terms -3^0, a, and 4?

• A. -3^0 + (4 + a)
• B. -3^0 + (a + 4)
• C. (-3^0 + a) + 4
• D. -3^0 - (a + 4)

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that the order of addition doesn’t affect the sum. Since -3^0 equals -1, the whole expression becomes -1 + a + 4. The chosen form -3^0 + (4 + a) emphasizes the two terms 4 and a being added together inside parentheses. Because addition is commutative, swapping those two terms gives -3^0 + (a + 4), and the total stays the same. In other words, -1 + (4 + a) = -1 + (a + 4) = a + 3, demonstrating that you can reorder the addends without changing the result. The other forms either involve subtracting or don’t clearly show the swapping of the two addends, so they don’t illustrate the commutativity as directly.

The main idea here is that the order of addition doesn’t affect the sum. Since -3^0 equals -1, the whole expression becomes -1 + a + 4. The chosen form -3^0 + (4 + a) emphasizes the two terms 4 and a being added together inside parentheses. Because addition is commutative, swapping those two terms gives -3^0 + (a + 4), and the total stays the same. In other words, -1 + (4 + a) = -1 + (a + 4) = a + 3, demonstrating that you can reorder the addends without changing the result. The other forms either involve subtracting or don’t clearly show the swapping of the two addends, so they don’t illustrate the commutativity as directly.