Question

How do you evaluate `(\frac { 5} { 9} ) ( - \frac { 4} { 5} ) ( \frac { 3} { 8} ) ( - 12)`?

Answer 1

2

Explanation:

We can write the expression this way (I'm going to put the `-12` into a fractional form so that we can better see numerators and denominators):

`5/9xx-4/5xx3/8xx-12/1`

Let's deal with the negative signs first - there are two of them, meaning we have `-1xx-1=1` and so the negative signs cancel:

`5/9xx4/5xx3/8xx12/1`

We have some opportunities to cancel terms:

`cancel5/cancel9^3xxcancel4/cancel5xxcancel3/cancel8^cancel2xxcancel12^6/1=6/3=2`