Final answer:
The product of -3 and 5 is -15, as per the multiplication rules where a negative number multiplied by a positive number results in a negative product.
Step-by-step explanation:
The product of -3 and 5 is -15. In mathematics, when we talk about the product of two numbers, we are referring to the result of multiplying them. According to multiplication rules, when two numbers have opposite signs, the product has a negative sign. If we multiply a negative number by a positive number, the answer will also have a negative sign.
It's important to remember that multiplication is commutative, meaning that changing the order of the numbers does not change the product. The key concepts are similar to those used when figuring out subtraction and addition of signed numbers. For example, subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive.
If we apply this to -3 multiplied by 5, we multiply the absolute values (3 and 5) to get 15. Since we have one positive number (5) and one negative number (-3), our final product is -15.