Reshamay, the distrubutive property means that we multiply a sum by multiplying each addend and then adding.
Let's look at your problem. If we use PEMDAS, then 8(6 + 9) = 8(15) = 120.
Using the distributive property, 8(6 + 9) = 8(6) + 8(9) = 48 + 72 = 120.
A good use for the distributive property is to use it backwards, especially for mental math. I may not know what 37 x 7 is, but 30 x 7 is 210 and 7 x 7 is 49. Add the two together to get 259.
The common error most people make is to forget to distibute to everything. For example, 5(8 + 1) = 40 + 1 = 41. Be aware of this!
