Question

The stock market lost an average of 12.6 points per month for 3.5 consecutive months before it started to recover. What was the total change in points over this time period?

Answer 1

The total change over `3 1/2` months is `-44.1`

Explanation:

The change is a reduction so this is demonstrated by using a negative value.

Consider the units of measurement.

points per months `->("points")/("month")`

So points per month `xx` count of months is:

`("points")/(cancel("month"))xx cancel( "months") = "points"` which is what is needed

So we have `-12.6xx3.5 = -44.1` points