I remember learning it as a child using something like a "digging a hole" metaphor.
PS: I think the tags I added are not right, but thats all I could think of, so if I have gone wrong, do edit that. Please suggest a method that will involve only basic algebra as she is in grade 4.Īslo, if you find an easier way, do share it with me! So, my question is, How can I better explain it to her? Or rather, does this have any flaw which needs to be corrected? To see if she has really understood, I asked her to explain this to my mother, and the result was not satisfactory. So, that is your answer!īut I think this is a little too long so I said that you should observe this pattern and then use the result $-(-x)=x$ and solve questions. Now, I can say that is the same as $5+0-3-(-3)$ and by the definition of $-3$, $0-3=(-3)$, So now the expression becomes $5 + (-3) - (-3)$ and since $(-3)$ is being added and subtracted, we will just cancel that and write 5.
#Integers negative and positive rules plus#
So, I did not want to say that because minus of minus is plus, so the answer to b) is 5, and minus of plus is minus, so you can solve a) and c) likewise.and I explained in detail how we can simplify these and for b) particularly, I said:
#Integers negative and positive rules how to#
Scott at also has put together a handy video on how to create a cheat sheet for multiplying negative and positive numbers (scroll down the page and you’ll find the video).I was trying to teach my younger sister some math, and it drifted on to integers, and operations on negative integers. 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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