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 1515 yards. What is the total number of yards lost?

  1. Identify what to find: the number of yards lost.
  2. Write a phrase: "three times a 1515-yard penalty."
  3. Translate: A loss of 1515 yards is represented as 15-15, so the expression is 3(15)3(-15).
  4. Simplify: The factors have different signs (positive times negative), so the product is negative: 3(15)=453(-15) = -45.
  5. Answer: The team lost 4545 yards.

Representing a penalty as 15-15 and multiplying by the number of occurrences illustrates how integer multiplication models repeated losses in real-world contexts.

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Updated 2026-04-21

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