Question

Simplify:

(1) 4 × [10 + (–12)]

Answer 1

4 × [10 + (–12)]
let us first solve the subtraction in the square brackets.
Ignoring the signs, let us subtract the smaller number from the bigger number.
12 – 10 = 2
Since the bigger number has the negative sign, the result will be (–2).
Now, the expression gets reduced to
4 × [–2]
The magnitude of (–2) is 2.
So, the product of the magnitudes will be 8.
Since the product of a negative and a positive integer is always negative, the result is (–8).

∴ 4 × [10 + (–12)] = –8