Question

When Tomas simplified the expression -2.6 + (-5.4), he got 2.8. what mistake did Tomas likely make?

Answer 1

Tomas used incorrectly the rule of signs, the expression should be simplified as follows:

-2.6 + (-5.4)

-2.6 -5.4 = 8

What mistake did Tomas likely make?

Here Tomas wants to perform an addition between two numbers:

-2.6 + (-5.4)

And the outcome that Tomas gets is:

-2.6 + (-5.4) = 2.8

Here his mistake seems to bee that he thought the second number was a positive number, and he solved the operation:

-2.6 + 5.4

So, he used wrong the rule of signs.

Remember that the rule of signs says that:

(-)*(+) = (+)*(-) = (-)

Using that, we can rewrite the original expression:

-2.6 + (-5.4)

to:

-2.6 - 5.4

Solving that, we get:

-2.6 - 5.4 = -8

Which is the outcome that Tomas would have gotten if he had used correctly the rule of signs.

If you want to learn more about the rule of signs:

brainly.com/question/13333620

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