The commutative property states that, when adding or multiplying numbers, the order in which they're added or multiplied does not matter. For example, 3 + 4 and 4 + 3 give the same result, as do 3 x 4 and 4 x 3.

To simplify this fraction, first find the greatest common factor between them. The factors of 36 are [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36] and the factors of 64 are [1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64]. They share 3 factors [1, 2, 4] making 4 their greatest common factor (GCF).

Next, divide both numerator and denominator by the GCF:

\( \frac{36}{64} \) = \( \frac{\frac{36}{4}}{\frac{64}{4}} \) = \( \frac{9}{16} \)

There are 4 4-passenger taxis available so that's 4 x 4 = 16 total seats. There are 19 people needing transportation leaving 19 - 16 = 3 who will have to find other transportation.

To subtract these radicals together their radicands must be the same:

3\( \sqrt{75} \) - 7\( \sqrt{3} \)
3\( \sqrt{25 \times 3} \) - 7\( \sqrt{3} \)
3\( \sqrt{5^2 \times 3} \) - 7\( \sqrt{3} \)
(3)(5)\( \sqrt{3} \) - 7\( \sqrt{3} \)
15\( \sqrt{3} \) - 7\( \sqrt{3} \)

Now that the radicands are identical, you can subtract them:

If 79% of the town's 37,000 voters cast ballots the number of votes cast is:

(\( \frac{79}{100} \)) x 37,000 = \( \frac{2,923,000}{100} \) = 29,230

The mayor got 78% of the votes cast which is:

(\( \frac{78}{100} \)) x 29,230 = \( \frac{2,279,940}{100} \) = 22,799 votes.