The associative property states that the way in which numbers are grouped in an arithmetic expression does not affect the result of the computation. For example, in the expression (a + b) + c, the addition of a + b can be done first, and then added to c, or the addition of b + c can be done first and then added to a. The result will be the same either way.
In the expression you provided, the associative property can be used to group the terms in the following way:
(8/9 / 7/5) x 3/16
= (8/9 x 3/16) / (7/5)
Then, the division and multiplication operations can be carried out in the order that they appear, from left to right:
= (24/144) / (7/5)
= (1/6) / (7/5)
Finally, the division operation can be carried out to obtain the final result:
= (5/42)