• Let me quote from the article:

    “In mathematics, the distributive property of binary operations is a generalization of the distributive law, which asserts that the equality x*(y+z) = x*y + x*z is always true in elementary algebra.”

    This is the first sentence of the article, which clearly states that the distributive property is a generalization of the distributive law, which is then stated.

    Make sure you can comprehend that before reading on.

    To make your misunderstanding clear: You seem to be under the impression that the distributive law and distributive property are completely different statements, where the only difference in reality is that the distributive property is a property that some fields (or other structures with a pair of operations) may have, and the distributive law is the statement that common algebraic structures like the integers and the reals adhere to the distributive property.

    I don’t know which school you went to or teach at, but this certainly is not 7th year material.

    • which clearly states that the distributive property is a generalization of the distributive law

      Let me say again, people calling a Koala a Koala bear doesn’t mean it actually is a bear. Stop reading wikipedia and pick up a Maths textbook.

      You seem to be under the impression that the distributive law and distributive property are completely different statements

      It’s not an impression, it’s in Year 7 Maths textbooks.

      this certainly is not 7th year material

      And yet it appears in every Year 7 textbook I’ve ever seen.

      Looks like we’re done here.