Question

In -xy, is the x or y negative? and why?​

Answer 1

You can't say whether
`x` or
`y` is negative or positive because you don't know their values. You can't even say that the whole product
`-xy` is negative, for the same reason. For example, if
`x=-1` and
`y=2`,
`-xy=-(-1\cdot2)=-(-2)=2` which is positive.

Actually, you could calculate the above also this way
`-(-1)\cdot 2=1\cdot2=2`, or even this way
`-1\cdot2 \cdot(-1)=2`, as
`-xy` is the same as
`-1\cdot xy` and multiplication is commutative.