Exercise 3 Page 236

When multiplying real numbers, the product will be positive if the signs are the same and it will be negative if the signs are different. cc Same Sign & Different Signs (+)(+)=(+) & (+)(-)=(-) (-)(-)=(+) & (-)(+)=(-) We will use the Associative Property of Multiplication to multiply the first two numbers first. There are two negative numbers so the product will be positive.

-1(- 3)

MultNegNegOnePar

- a(- b)=a* b

1* 3

Multiply

Multiply

3

Now we will multiply the remaining two numbers. The result of the first multiplication was positive and the third number is negative, so the final product will be negative.

3(- 4)

MultPosNeg

a(- b)=- a * b

-3*4

Multiply

Multiply

- 12

We can verify this using a calculator.