Chapter 0.5, Problem 12E

To determine

The simplified value of the expression $-\frac{1}{3}\cdot \frac{2}{5}$ .

Answer to Problem 12E

The simplified value of the expression $-\frac{1}{3}\cdot \frac{2}{5}$ is $-\frac{2}{15}$ .

Explanation of Solution

Given information:

The expression $-\frac{1}{3}\cdot \frac{2}{5}$ .

Formula used:

Product of two real numbers is obtained when they are multiplied together. That is two or more numbers are separated by multiplication signs $\left(\right),\times \text{ or }\cdot$ .

Product of a positive and a negative integer is always negative.

Calculation:

Consider the expression $-\frac{1}{3}\cdot \frac{2}{5}$ .

Recall that product of two real numbers is obtained when they are multiplied together. That is two or more numbers are separated by multiplication signs $\left(\right),\times \text{ or }\cdot$ .

Simplify it,

  $\begin{array}{c}-\frac{1}{3}\cdot \frac{2}{5}=-\frac{1\cdot 2}{3\cdot 5}\\ =-\frac{2}{15}\end{array}$

Thus, the simplified value of the expression $-\frac{1}{3}\cdot \frac{2}{5}$ is $-\frac{2}{15}$ .