Example

Finding Total Yards Lost Using Integer Multiplication

When a quantity is lost or reduced repeatedly, the situation can be modeled by multiplying a positive count by a negative amount. For example: Problem: A football team received three penalties in the third quarter, each resulting in a loss of 15 yards. What is the total number of yards lost? 1. Read the problem to understand the situation. 2. Identify what to find: the number of yards lost. 3. Write a phrase: "three times a 15-yard penalty." 4. Translate into an expression: A loss of 15 yards is represented as -15, so the expression is 3(15)3(-15). 5. Simplify: The factors have different signs (positive and negative), so the product is negative: 3(15)=453(-15) = -45. 6. Answer: The team lost 45 yards. Representing a penalty as -15 and multiplying by the number of occurrences illustrates how integer multiplication models repeated losses in real-world contexts.

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Updated 2026-06-27

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