In arithmetic, the multiplicative identity is  1 .

This means that you can multiply 1 to any number...  and it keeps its identity!  The number stays the same!

Let's look at the number 8.  Anyway we try to multiply 1 to it, the 8 just keeps coming back as the answer.

8 x 1 = 8

1 x 8 = 8

Go ahead and try it with any number you can thing of...  It always works!

And, when something always works in math, we make it a property:

The Multiplicative Identity Property:

The multiplicative identity is  1


a x 1 = a

1x a = a

This is often written in one line...

a x 1 = a = 1 x a

Where a is any real number.