[zero-sharp]

We have 35 apples and we want to allocate, or divide, them evenly to 7 people. We are trying to create 7 groups from the 35. The "group" in this context is "the number of apples per person". Notice that it's a rate, a "unit rate".

You can also say we found 5 groups of 7, but this phrasing seems to emphasize something different in the context of the original problem. If you say "5 groups of 7", then the group is "the number of people we need in order to allocate 5 apples evenly." This sounds confusing and there's probably a better way to write it, but I think you get the point.

So, sure, 5x7 = 7x5. That's a fact of arithmetic and, if we're just talking about logic and numbers, we can be a little careless. But if you're representing something with the numbers, it's a little different.