Question

How do you evaluate `3( - 4) + 6( - 1)`?

Answer 1

A positive times a negative is a positive, and adding a negative is the same as subtracting.

Explanation:

`3(-4)+6(-1)`
Because a negative times a positive is a negative, we get
`-12+` `-6`
And because adding a negative is the same as subtracting we get
`-12-6`, which is equal to `-18`
A less confusing way to add a negative to a negative is to treat it like this
`-a+` `-b=-(a+b)`
This means we can work out `a+b` and then just put a negative sign on the front.