Let R be a ring with identity. If a, b, $c{in}R$ such that a+b+c = 1, then the distributive laws from addition over multiplication hold in R, that is a+(bc) = (a+b)(a+c) when ab = ba, and (ab)+c = (a+c)(b+c) when ac = ca. An application to obtains, if A,B are idempotent matrices and AB = BA = 0 then there exists an idempotent matrix C such that A + BC = (A + B)(A + C), and also A + BC = (I - C)(I - B). Some other cases and applications are also presented.