Signs of Products or Quotients of Signed Numbers
Very briefly, we state the familiar rule here:
| (+) times (+) gives (+) |
(+) divided by (+) gives (+) |
| (+) times (-) gives (-) |
(+) divided by (-) gives (-) |
| (-) times (+) gives (-) |
(-) divided by (+) gives (-) |
| (-) times (-) gives (+) |
(-) divided by (-) gives (+) |
So, when multiplying two numbers, or when dividing one number
by a second number,
the result is positive if both numbers have the same
sign
the result is negative if the two numbers have opposite
signs.
So, for example:
(+2) × (+3) = +6
(+2) × (-3) = -6
(-2) × (+3) = -6
(-2) × (-3) = +6
and
(+6) divided by (+2) gives +3
(+6) divided by (-2) gives -3
(-6) divided by (+2) gives -3
(-6) divided by (-2) gives +3
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