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Question 368915: Why does the inequality sign change when both sides are multiplied or divided by a negative number? Does this happen with equations? Why or why not? Give examples.
Answer by kitkat2009(1)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! The inequality sign must change when multiplying or dividing by a negative number because the result will be a false inequality if the sign doesn’t change. Multiplying or dividing by a negative number creates a mirror image of the positive numbers. In that case, the sign must change to reflect the greater number being the number closest to 0 on the number line. This does not happen with equations. Equations do not ask to be solved to be determine solutions that are greater than, less than, or equal to a given number. Therefore, they are not affected by multiplication and division of negative numbers.
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