This is the associative property of addition, not the commutative property.
The commutative property only deals with 2 numbers not 3.
The order of the numbers or their groupings do not affect the result.
(2+1)+3 = 2+(1+3)
3+3 = 2+4 (eliminate parehtneses)
6 = 6
Instead of a variable, I have substituted real numbers to illustrate how this works. You of course would eliminate the parentheses first.
The same is true of multiplication as well.
(2*4)*5 = 2*(4*5)
8*5 = 2*20 (eliminate parentheses)
40 = 40
Again, you eliminate the parentheses first and then work out the problem the rest of the way.
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