Delta-K,  Research,  Volume 18, Issue 3

THE PRODUCT OF SIGNED NUMBERS: Dissection of an Unmotivated Proof

Journal of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association

Volume 18 Issue 3, March 1979

33 – 36

THE PRODUCT OF SIGNED NUMBERS: Dissection of an Unmotivated Proof

Stephen I. Brown

Among the many justifications or explanations for why signed numbers behave the way they do under multiplication, the most puzzling is one that relies heavily upon the distributive principle.