B How Can I Calculate Negative Multiplication Without Following Traditional Rules?

pyroclasticsoul
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Do NOT delete your Original Post after you have received replies and help
TL;DR Summary
Negative times positive
Say I have 6 pencils. I want to times this by negative two. Now ignoring the rules that your teacher taught you work this out. 6 pencils negative 2 times. Negative one time would be 0 and another negative times would be -6 right? So 6 x - 2 = -6 according to simple logic. The calculator will say -12 but if I took 6 away from 6 3 times that would be -12.
 
  • Skeptical
Likes PeroK
Mathematics news on Phys.org
pyroclasticsoul said:
TL;DR Summary: Negative times positive

Say I have 6 pencils. I want to times this by negative two. Now ignoring the rules that your teacher taught you work this out. 6 pencils negative 2 times. Negative one time would be 0 and another negative times would be -6 right? So 6 x - 2 = -6 according to simple logic. The calculator will say -12 but if I took 6 away from 6 3 times that would be -12.
No. You started out with 6. "I have 6 pencils." You're describing 6 + -2x6 which equals -6.

If you had started out with zero, then the final answer would indeed be -12.
 
  • Like
Likes fresh_42
DaveC426913 said:
No. You started out with 6. "I have 6 pencils." You're describing 6 + -2x6 which equals -6.

If you had started out with zero, then the final answer would indeed be -12.
I thought about that but why do I start with 0 and not 6 since 6 is the number adjusted by -2.
 
pyroclasticsoul said:
why do I start with 0

Read the problem statement you wrote.

"I have 6 pencils"

The problem starts at +6 pencils.
 
Note -- the OP deleted their first post after getting help from Dave. This is not allowed. The OP text is restored and this thread is now closed.
 
  • Like
Likes SammyS, Bystander and topsquark
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. In Dirac’s Principles of Quantum Mechanics published in 1930 he introduced a “convenient notation” he referred to as a “delta function” which he treated as a continuum analog to the discrete Kronecker delta. The Kronecker delta is simply the indexed components of the identity operator in matrix algebra Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/what-exactly-is-diracs-delta-function/ by...
Fermat's Last Theorem has long been one of the most famous mathematical problems, and is now one of the most famous theorems. It simply states that the equation $$ a^n+b^n=c^n $$ has no solutions with positive integers if ##n>2.## It was named after Pierre de Fermat (1607-1665). The problem itself stems from the book Arithmetica by Diophantus of Alexandria. It gained popularity because Fermat noted in his copy "Cubum autem in duos cubos, aut quadratoquadratum in duos quadratoquadratos, et...
I'm interested to know whether the equation $$1 = 2 - \frac{1}{2 - \frac{1}{2 - \cdots}}$$ is true or not. It can be shown easily that if the continued fraction converges, it cannot converge to anything else than 1. It seems that if the continued fraction converges, the convergence is very slow. The apparent slowness of the convergence makes it difficult to estimate the presence of true convergence numerically. At the moment I don't know whether this converges or not.
Back
Top