Multiplying and dividing integers, step by step
Multiplying and dividing signed numbers comes down to one rule about signs and one fact you already know.
The question
(-96) ÷ 8
(-96)÷8=?
96÷8=12
signs:(-96)8→minus
(-96)÷8=(-12)
- Two easy jobs, kept apart: how BIG the answer is, then which side of zero it is on. Do the size first, with the minus signs set aside.
- Signs off: 96 ÷ 8 = 12. Ordinary times-tables — the negatives play no part in the size.
- Now the sign. One number is negative and one is positive — a single minus, with nothing to cancel it. Different signs give a MINUS.
- Size 12, sign minus — so (-96) ÷ 8 = (-12).
How it works.
- 01
Two easy jobs, kept apart: how BIG the answer is, then which side of zero it is on. Do the size first, with the minus signs set aside.
- 02
Signs off: 96 ÷ 8 = 12. Ordinary times-tables — the negatives play no part in the size.
- 03
Now the sign. One number is negative and one is positive — a single minus, with nothing to cancel it. Different signs give a MINUS.
- 04
Size 12, sign minus — so (-96) ÷ 8 = (-12).