If you’re still confused over why a negative number times a negative number makes a positive number, Diana Brown at the Department of Mathematics, the University of Georgia, explains it in many different ways in this article. Here’s the overall rule to remember when multiplying positive and negative numbers: 2 x -4 are both negative, so we know the answer is going to be positive. If you look at it on the number line, walking backwards while facing in the negative direction, you move in the positive direction.įor example. Two negatives make a positive, so a negative number times a negative number makes a positive number. Rule 3: A negative number times a negative number, equals a positive number. It doesn’t matter which order the positive and negative numbers are in that you are multiplying, the answer is always a negative number.įor example: -2 x 4, which in essence is the same as -2 + (-2) + (-2) + (-2)Īnd as we said, if it’s the other way around 4 x -2, the answer is still the same: -8. ![]() When you multiply a negative number to a positive number, your answer is a negative number. Rule 2: A negative number times a positive number equals a negative number. 5 is a positive number, 3 is a positive number and multiplying equals a positive number: 15. This is the multiplication you have been doing all along, positive numbers times positive numbers equal positive numbers.įor example, 5 x 3 = 15. There are only three rules to remember: Rule 1: A positive number times a positive number equals a positive number. There are less rules when multiplying positive and negative numbers than in adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers.
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