- #1
jobyts
- 227
- 64
-ve number_of_times ?
Let's say I'm trying to teach a kindergartener about addition/subtraction/multiplication of positive/negative numbers.
Let' say she has 5 candies. I can ask her - how many candies you 'have'? The answer is +5.
Or, if she has no candies and 'needs' 5 candies, that could be represented as -5.
If one kid needs 5 candy and another kid needs 3 candy, totally they need 8 candy,
hence (-5) + (-3) = (-8) => -ve number + -ve number = -ve number
If one kid needs 5 candy and there are 3 such kids, in total, they need 15 candies, hence
(-5) * (+3) = (-15) => -ve number * positive number of times = -ve number.
The question I have is how do I say the candy example for multiplication of 2 -ve numbers.
How's multiplication of 2 negative numbers, makes into a positive number?
Shouldn't '-ve number_of_times' be considered as an 'undefined' operation, like divide_by_zero? Did we just define a meaningless thing, and to make things work, we further kept on defining more fancy things like complex numbers.., real and imaginary part...
Let's say I'm trying to teach a kindergartener about addition/subtraction/multiplication of positive/negative numbers.
Let' say she has 5 candies. I can ask her - how many candies you 'have'? The answer is +5.
Or, if she has no candies and 'needs' 5 candies, that could be represented as -5.
If one kid needs 5 candy and another kid needs 3 candy, totally they need 8 candy,
hence (-5) + (-3) = (-8) => -ve number + -ve number = -ve number
If one kid needs 5 candy and there are 3 such kids, in total, they need 15 candies, hence
(-5) * (+3) = (-15) => -ve number * positive number of times = -ve number.
The question I have is how do I say the candy example for multiplication of 2 -ve numbers.
How's multiplication of 2 negative numbers, makes into a positive number?
Shouldn't '-ve number_of_times' be considered as an 'undefined' operation, like divide_by_zero? Did we just define a meaningless thing, and to make things work, we further kept on defining more fancy things like complex numbers.., real and imaginary part...