How do you multiply 4*-3?

1 Answer

The -3 can be written as (-1)(3) and so can be seen as a multiplication. Multiply by 4 and get -12.

Explanation:

Let's break down the expression a little:

The original is:

4*-3

What we have here is a 4 and it's multiplying -3. And -3 is -1 times 3. So we can rewrite this to say:

4*(-1)*3

We can do the multiplication in whichever order we'd like - I'll multiply the positive numbers first, then multiply by the negative:

4*3*(-1)=12*(-1)=-12