Question

Why must you flip the inequality symbol when you divide by a negative number?

Answer 1

@ParthKohli

Answer 2

lol really ummm....
just cuz its a rule! haha idk..

Answer 3

That helps alot.

Answer 4

lol im sorry..... :/

Answer 5

to keep the equation equal i think

Answer 6

does that help??

Answer 7

I wanna get peoples opions first

Answer 8

@SWAG

Answer 9

You must reverse the sense of inequality because, in essence, you're taking the opposite of both sides. so therfore to keep the equation equal you have to flip the sign.

Answer 10

For the same reason you must flip it when you multiply by a negative number. An example should suffice.


2 < 3


If you multiply by -1, without switching the sign, you get:


-2 < -3,


which is wrong. Actually,

-2 > -3.

Look at a number line if you are not sure about this - numbers to the left are less than numbers further to the right.
Dividing by a negative number is the same as multiplying by the reciprocal, which in this
case is also negative.
These signs are strictly the "Greater than" and "Less than" signs. The inequality sign is an = with a / stroke through it. If you divide an inequality by -1 it remains an inequality.

Answer 11

@dmezzullo does tht make sense.

Answer 12

because if you didn't the number would not make sence
\[-5<-1\times3=-5<-3\] which is correct, but\[-5<-1\times3\neq-5\times-1<3\] that would be\[5<3\] which is incorrect

Answer 13

It is to maintain the equality. For example consider the equation:
-1 > -2
If you divide or multiply both sides by -1 and DO NOT flip the inequality sign you would then be trying to say
1 > 2
which is obviously not true. Thus you need to flip the inequality sign to ensure the proper answer of
1 < 2

Answer 14

yeah!!! that's because as bigger is the positive number, smaller will be the negative number

Answer 15

Remember that any quality just says if something is greater or smaller than something else. When you multiply or divide a number by negative quantity, the number becomes either negative or positive.
In nother words, if it was bigger it becomes smaller, and if it was smaller it become bigger.
Therefore, to maintain the inequality true, you must change the direction of the inequality accordingly