Exercise 23 Page p19

Let's begin with rewriting the mixed number as an improper fraction before multiplying.

- 7 \frac{1}{2}

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Write mixed number as a fraction

$a \frac{b}{c} = \frac{a \cdot c + b}{c}$

- \frac{7 \cdot 2 + 1}{2}

- \frac{1 4 + 1}{2}

Add terms

- \frac{1 5}{2}

Now, we can multiply the fractions. Notice that, when multiplying two negative numbers, the product is always positive.

(- \frac{1}{3}) \cdot (- \frac{1 5}{2})

$(- a) (- b) = a \cdot b$

\frac{1}{3} \cdot \frac{1 5}{2}

Multiply fractions

\frac{1 \cdot 1 5}{3 \cdot 2}

$\frac{a}{b} = \frac{a / 3}{b / 3}$

\frac{1 \cdot 5}{1 \cdot 2}

$a \cdot 1 = a$

\frac{5}{2}

The product of the fractions is

\frac{5}{2}

which can be written as

2 \frac{1}{2} .