Question

why do you change the symbol of an inequality when you mulitply or divied by a negative

please help me i really need help

Answer 1

because if you multiply 8 by -3…for example…and it was greater than the other side, it has suddenly "flipped" to the other side of zero. Make sense?

Answer 2

its an identity -4 < 5 yes? multiply both by -1
and 4 > -5

Answer 3

yea sorta but how does that aply to evry inequality

Answer 4

assume a<b

add -a to both sides

a-a<b-a
0<b-a
add -b to both sides
-b<b-a-b
-b<-a

Answer 5

if while simplifying one you end up with a negative variable between two values, to remove the negative you multiply all by -1 ( and switch the inequalities )

Answer 6

ok. so if you have a positive number, and multiply it by a negative number, it is now negative/on the other side of zero. if you have a negative number and multiply it by another negative, it becomes positive,ending on the opposite side of zero that it was originally.

Answer 7

oh okay thank you all for helping me

Answer 8

no prob. ; )

Answer 9

and for sure its correct

Answer 10

?