Question

Explain what needs to happen to the inequality sign when dividing or multiplying by a negative number

Answer 1

When you multiply or divide by a negative, the sign of the inequality flips. For example we have this inequality:

-3x ≥ 6

We would isolate x by diving by -3

6/-3 = -2

Since we divided by a negative "-3", the sign flips from ≥ to ≤

So it would be x ≤ -2 .

Hope the example helped to understand! :)

Answer 2

The inequality itself needs to turn into a negative. This is because if the number is a positive, and there is only one negative involved in the problem, then the whole thing is a negative. However, when there are two positive numbers or two negative numbers involved, then the in-equation will always come out a positive.