Question 295714
Do you change the sign when dividing by an negative or do you do it before?


This is a confusing question, because I'm not sure the type of problem you are referring to, given that there are many instances where you divide by a negative.


For example, consider these rules:   

A positive divided by a negative is a negative.
A negative divided by a negative is a positive. 


In those cases, you are changing the sign.


If you are talking about inequalities, then you "flip" the sign when you divide by a negative.


For example, you could solve for "X" in the problem below, and you'd have to flip the sign because you are dividing by a negative.  See the following:


-2x < 6
x > -3  (see how the sign flipped when we divided by -2?  And see how the answer became -3 because we divided a positive by a negative?)


Here's another example: 

-3y > -9
y < 3   (Again, the sign flipped because we divided by a negative. BUT, -9 divided by -3 gives a +3, so the answer was positive, which is also a changed sign).


If you give a sample question, you may get a little more help.  I hope this helps you tho. :-)