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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from kaylou, a student: Suppose you were given 13 numbers and asked to find their product. |
Kaylou,
If 7 are positive then 6 are negative.
When you multiply numbers the order doesn't matter (for example 5 × 7 = 7 × 5) so you can multiply the 7 positive numbers first. Since they are all positive the result will be positive.
Now multiply the 6 negative numbers in pairs
All three results are positive. The final step is to multiply the number which was the product of the 7 positive positive numbers and the three results from the step above.
I hope this helps,
Penny
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