College Algebra 7th Edition

Published by Brooks Cole
ISBN 10: 1305115546
ISBN 13: 978-1-30511-554-5

Chapter P, Prerequisites - Section P.2 - Real Numbers - P.2 Exercises - Page 16: 84

Answer

(a) positive (b) positive (c) negative (d) positive

Work Step by Step

(a) Since b is negative, -b is positive (b) Since b and c are negative, bc is positive. Since a is also positive, a + bc is the sum of positive numbers, which is positive. (c) c is negative and a is positive, thus c-a is a negative number minus a positive number, which becomes a more negative number. Thus the result is negative. (d) b is negative, so $b^2$ is positive (a negative number times itself is positive). a is positive, so $ab^2$ is the product of two positive numbers, which is also positive.
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