Question

There are yellow and red counters. The yellow counters represent positive units and the red counters represent negative units.



How can the expression
4
×
(
−
3
)
be represented with counters?



A.
There are
3
groups of
4
red counters.

B.
There are
4
groups of
3
red counters.

C.
There are
3
groups of
4
yellow counters.

D.
There are
4
groups of
3
yellow counters.

Answer 1

4 × (−3) means "four groups of −3." Since red counters are negative, that's 4 groups of 3 red counters — answer B.

(You can also see it as −3 + −3 + −3 + −3 = −12.)