7th grade · Math · Unit 12 of 16
Multiply & Divide Signed Numbers
Sign rules
What your child practices
Multiplying and dividing positive and negative numbers (including fractions), using the sign rules, and real-world changes such as falling temperatures.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.NS.A.2 · multiplying and dividing rational numbers, including negative numbers
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Multiply or divide the numbers as usual.
- Same signs give a positive answer.
- Different signs give a negative answer.
Example: What is −6 × 4? 6 × 4 = 24. Different signs: negative. Answer: −24
Multiply & Divide Signed Numbers in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 12 of 16 in 7th grade Math, after Mean, Median & Mode and before Proportional Relationships.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Source: Arizona Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What is −20 ÷ (−5)?
−20 ÷ (−5) = ?
answer box
4
Hint: Divide the sizes, then use the sign rule: same signs positive, different signs negative.
Question 2
What is 1/4 × (−24)?
- -96
- -6
- -4
- 6
-6
Hint: 24 ÷ 4 = 6. One factor is negative, so the answer is negative.
Question 3
The temperature falls 6 degrees every hour for 2 hours. What is the total change in temperature, in degrees? (Use a negative number for a fall.)
answer box
-12
Hint: 2 × (−6) = −12.
Question 4
Without multiplying: is (−6) × 5 × (−3) positive or negative?
- Negative
- Positive
Positive
Hint: Count the negative factors. An even number of them gives a positive product; an odd number gives a negative one.
Question 5
What is 1 × (−11)?
1 × (−11) = ?
answer box
-11
Hint: Multiply the sizes, then use the sign rule: same signs positive, different signs negative.
Question 6
A change of −$24 is shared equally by 4 friends. What is each friend's change, in dollars?
answer box
-6
Hint: −24 ÷ 4 = −6.