Order matters in some mathematical operations but not others. When order does not matter, the operations are said to be commutative. Multiplication and addition are commutative, so 3 × 7 = 7 × 3 and 3 + 5 = 5 + 3. Subtraction and division are not commutative, so changing the order of the numbers results in a different answer, like 7 - 5 ≠ 5 - 7. The document then provides several word problems as examples of using order of operations and commutative properties to write and solve equations.