Question

The quotient of two numbers is negative. What must be true about the two numbers?
The dividend is negative.
The divisor is negative.
Either the dividend or the divisor is negative, but not both.
Both the divisor and the dividend are negative.

Answer 1

Commonly, plus and minus signs are used to indicate addition and subtraction, respectively. Those signs can also be used to indicate directed distances and specific points on a number line.

For example, a positive number means a move to the right on the number line, while a negative number means a move to the left. These two concepts are the key to mastering computation with negative numbers.

The rules for operations with negative numbers may seem arbitrary and sometimes even mysterious, but really they are not as weird as they seem. if you want to understand the rules, you need to first understand what it means to do operations with negative numbers. A number line is one of the most useful models for understanding negative numbers. When adding two integers on a number line, go to the first addend and then go from there the directed distance which is represented by the second addend. Thus, 5 + (negative3) is done by starting at 5 and going negative3 units from there – that is, three units to the left – to wind up at +2.