Question

What is the sign of the product (-5)(-2)(-7)(-6)?

A)Positive, because the products (-5)(-2) and (-7)(-6) are negative and the product of two negative numbers is positive
B)Positive, because the products (-5)(-2) and (-7)(-6) are positive and the product of two positive numbers is positive
C)Negative, because the products (-5)(-2) and (-7)(-6) are negative and the product of two negative numbers is negative
D)Negative, because the products (-5)(-2) and (-7)(-6) are positive and the product of two positive numbers is negative

Answer 1

The correct answer is option B: Positive, because the products (-5)(-2) and (-7)(-6) are positive and the product of two positive numbers is positive.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer is option B, indicating that the product is positive because multiplication of negative numbers yields positive results, and the final multiplication of these positive products also results in a positive number.. Let's analyze this step by step:

• The product of two negative numbers is positive, according to the rule. For instance, (-5)(-2) = 10.
• Similarly, (-7)(-6) = 42, which is also a positive number.
• Now we have the products 10 and 42, which are both positive numbers.
• According to the rule, the product of two positive numbers is also positive: 10 x 42 = 420.

Thus, we can see that when four negative numbers are multiplied together, the result is a positive number, since the pair-wise multiplication of negative numbers results in positive products, and subsequently, the product of these positive numbers remains positive.