3. complete the comparison: 17 ? forms & resources al programs a. 18 b. 39 0.1

This is an example of the associative property of multiplication.

The numbers can be associated in any way (as long as it is all multiplication)
 For example (2 x3 ) x 5 could also be expressed as 2 x (3 x 5).  (2 x 5) x3 also gives the same answer.  It doesn't matter how you associate them.