The Associative Property states:
the order of addends (+) or the order of factors (x),
when grouped in a single problem,
does not change the answer.

When Adding:

3 + ( 5 + 4 )    
   3      + 9 =     12
is the same as...
( 3 + 5 ) + 4      
       8    +  4 =  12

** OR **

When Multiplying:

(5 x 7) x 2      
            35  x  2 =   70      
is the same as...
5 x (7 x 2)    
         5  x   14 =    70      

Another Way To Look At It...

When Adding:

(7 + 3) + 5  =  7 + (3 + 5)
 10 + 5  =  7 + 8   
15  =  15

** OR **

When Multiplying:

(2 x 5) x 3  =  2 x (5 x 3)
10 x 3  =  2 x 15
30  =  30

REMEMBER:
The order of addends or factors,
when grouped,
does not change the answer
 of a single problem.