Question

Emanuel used the calculations below to find the product of the given fractions.

(Three-fifths) (StartFraction 4 over 9 EndFraction) (Negative one-half)

Step 1 StartFraction (3) (4) (negative 1) over (5) (9) (negative 2) EndFraction

Step 2 StartFraction negative 12 over negative 90 EndFraction

Step 3 StartFraction 12 over 90 EndFraction

Step 4 StartFraction 2 over 15 EndFraction

In which step did his first error occur?
step 1
step 2
step 3
step 4

Answer 1

Step 1.

He wrote the denominator factor as −2 instead of 2. The product should be (3·4·(−1)) / (5·9·2) = −12/90 = −2/15, not 12/90 = 2/15.