If we want to add three vectors , and we have two possibilities:
1) add and , and add to this result. This operation is indicated by ( + ) + .
2) add with the result of adding and . This operation is indicated by + ( + ).
The figure on the right shows that the result is the same in both cases
( + ) + = + ( + )
This is the associative property of the vector addition. Then we can write + + instead of ( + )+ or + ( + ). |