Why does negative times negative equal positive?

Explanation: We know that negative times anything means that it will change the sign. Ideally, the second negative should change the sign of our original number (which is also negative). So, our original negative sign is changed into a positive sign when a negative is multiplied to it.

How do you explain a negative times a negative?

Why a negative times a negative is a positive.

What are the negative and positive rules?

The Rules:

	Rule	Example
+(+)	Two like signs become a positive sign	3+(+2) = 3 + 2 = 5
−(−)	6−(−3) = 6 + 3 = 9
+(−)	Two unlike signs become a negative sign	7+(−2) = 7 − 2 = 5
−(+)	8−(+2) = 8 − 2 = 6

Why is negative multiplication positive?

Each number has an “additive inverse” associated to it (a sort of “opposite” number), which when added to the original number gives zero. The fact that the product of two negatives is a positive is therefore related to the fact that the inverse of the inverse of a positive number is that positive number back again.

What does positive times negative equal?

Rule 2: A negative number times a positive number equals a negative number. When you multiply a negative number to a positive number, your answer is a negative 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.

What is a negative times a positive number?

There are two simple rules to remember: When you multiply a negative number by a positive number then the product is always negative. When you multiply two negative numbers or two positive numbers then the product is always positive. 3 times 4 equals 12.

What’s a negative times a positive?

What happens when you add a positive number to a negative number?

Number Line Method When you add a positive number, you move to the right on the number line. When you add a negative number, you move to the left on the number line.