The distributive property is not applicable for the multiplication −39×99; the product is simply −3,861.
The student's question pertains to the evaluation of the expression using the distributive property, for −39×99. However, since there are no parentheses or multiple terms inside the parentheses, the distributive property does not directly apply here. Instead, we have a straightforward multiplication of two integers.
When we multiply two numbers with opposite signs, the result is negative, and the multiplication itself is just calculating the product of their absolute values.
Therefore, −39×99 = −(39×99) = −3,861, because 39×99 equals 3,861 and a negative times a positive yields a negative result.
Also, when managing exponents, negative exponents represent the reciprocal of the base raised to the positive exponent, and division of numbers in scientific notation involves dividing the coefficients and subtracting the exponents.
The probable question may be:
"Evaluate the following, using the distributive property:−39×99"