Question

Multiply. apply the associative and/or commutative properties as a strategy for simplifying your work. (-20)(-3 /10)(-5) what is the product?

Answer 1

The product of (-20), (-3/10), and (-5) is -30. The commutative property of multiplication allows us to multiply the whole numbers first, resulting in +100, and then multiplying by the fraction results in -30.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question is to multiply the numbers (-20), (-3/10), and (-5) while applying the associative and/or commutative properties. The product of the numbers can be found as follows:

• First, rearrange the numbers using the commutative property of multiplication, which states that numbers can be multiplied in any order. So, we can multiply the whole numbers first, (-20) and (-5).
• According to the rule that the product of two negative numbers is positive, (-20) * (-5) equals +100.
• Next, multiply the result by (-3/10). Since a positive number multiplied by a negative number results in a negative number, 100 * (-3/10) is -30.

Therefore, the product of (-20), (-3/10), and (-5) is -30.