Question

Let s and t be any two whole numbers, excluding 0.


True or false.

The statemnt s/t = t/s is always true?

What did you do first to answer this question?

Answer 1

s/t=t/s <=> s²=t² <=> s=±t

We were told that s and t are any integer such that s≠0 and t≠0.

So the statement "s/t=t/s is always true" is false.

Answer 2

what did you do first to answer the question?

Answer 3

s/t=t/s <=> s²=t² <=> s=±t

That is to find the conditions under which the statement is true. As you probably know, the statement is true at times, but not all the time.

The first line says that the statement is true if and only if s is equal to +t or -t.

The sign <=> means "equivalent to"