Expert: Steve Holleran - 9/19/2008

Question
QUESTION: i am from india, the quesion is
If x < 0 then (-x) (-x)/ (-x) =?
answer options are
A. x
B. |x|
C. -x
D. -x^2
E. x^2


ANSWER: Hi Elevarasan,

Well, if x < 0 , then its a negative number.

For      (-x)(-x)
        --------
         (-x)   

but you can cancel out one of the (-x) on top with the one on bottom,

and reduce it just to (-x), and if x is negative, then -x is positive and the opposite of x, so I would say its choice C.

Steve

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: A square carpet is laid on a square floor and the area of square floor is 30.64 more than the area of carpet. With the area of floor being 10% more than area of the carpet, what is the area of the carpet?
(Given question is similar to this.... but numerical values (given above) may not be exact)
A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12


Answer
Hello Elavarasan,

The key here is that the area of the floor is 10% more than the area of the carpet, and this amount is 30.64 sq. meters.

So if   .10 * Area carpet = 30.64,

then          Area carpet = 30.64 / .10 = 306.4

Don't know what the multiple choice is about.

Steve