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Why do negative reciprocals always have a product of -1?

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User Dbkk
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2 Answers

2 votes

No matter what 'x' is, the negative reciprocal of 'x' is -(1/x).

Now let's multiply them:

(x) times -(1/x) = -(x/x) = -1 .

And there you are.
That's why.

answered
User Mcclosa
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9.1k points
1 vote
For any number x, when we multiply by -1/x, we get -x/x, or -1.  As we haven't made any assumptions about x (other than x is not equal to zero, in which case x does not have a defined reciprocal), all negative reciprocals have a product of -1.
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User Drewster
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7.9k points

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