381,204 views
31 votes
31 votes
Billy thinks of a number that is not zero.

He multiples his number by -3
Is:
The answer is positive
The answer is negative
The answer could be
positive or negative

User Lew Wei Hao
by
2.9k points

2 Answers

16 votes
16 votes

SOLVING


\Large\maltese\underline{\textsf{A. What is Asked}}

Billy thinks of a nonzero number. He multiplies it by 3. He gets...? 3 options given


\Large\maltese\underline{\textsf{This problem has been solved!}}

This problem does not give us the information about the starting number (we can't read Billy's mind).

First, I'm going to assume that the number is positive


\bf{A\;positive\;number\;multiplied\;by\;-3;\;yields\;a\;negative}

Next, I'll assume that Billy's number is a negative one.


\bf{The\;number\;is\;a\;positive\;one}.


\rule{300}{1.7}


\bf{Result:}


\bf{=The\;answer\;could\;be\;either\;positive\;or\;negative.\;It\;depends\;on\;the\;sign}\\of\:the\:starting\:number.

User Hendry Lim
by
3.2k points
25 votes
25 votes
The answer could be negative or positive. We are not given specific as to whether or not the starting number is positive or negative so therefore it could be either.
Hope this is helpful :)
User Tbarbe
by
3.1k points