Dumb question I know, but I've never really thought about it. If you square a negative x, does it become positive?
(-×)^2=?
the result is positive, since
(-x)(-x) = +x^2
It's not dumb at all. In fact, it is kind of tricky to prove that
(-a)(-b) = ab
Thanks man
Not a dumb question at all! When you square a negative number, it does not actually become positive. Instead, squaring any real number (positive or negative) always results in a positive value.
To demonstrate this, let's take the example you provided: (-x)^2. To square a number, you multiply it by itself. So, in this case, we will multiply -x by -x.
(-x)^2 = (-x) * (-x)
When multiplying two negative numbers together, the product is positive. So, (-x) * (-x) is equal to x * x.
Therefore, (-x)^2 simplifies to x^2, which is always a positive number.
In conclusion, squaring a negative number gives a positive result, but it doesn't actually change the sign of the number itself.