Question

What is the opposite and reciprocal of $-4$ ?

Answer 1

Hint: From the given we have been asked to find the opposite and reciprocal of the given number $-4$ . For solving this question we will take the help of the definitions of opposite and reciprocal of a number. We will use the concepts of additive inverse and multiplicative inverse and then find the required opposite and reciprocal respectively for the given number.

Complete step-by-step answer:
Now considering from the question we have been asked to find the opposite and reciprocal of the given number $-4$ .
From the basic concepts we know that the opposite of a number is the additive inverse, which when added to the original number, the result will be zero. Simply we can also say that in this case the opposite of a number can be given by just changing the sign before the number or by multiplying the given number with minus one.
So, the opposite to $-4$ will be given by $\Rightarrow -4+4=0$ .
So, the opposite number will be $+4$ .
In mathematics the reciprocal of a number is the multiplicative inverse, which when multiplied times the original number gives the result as one.
So, we get the reciprocal number of the given number by $\Rightarrow -4\left( \dfrac{1}{-4} \right)=1$ .
Here we can see that the result we got is one. So, the reciprocal of the given number will be $\left( \dfrac{1}{-4} \right)$ .

Note: During the process of answering questions of this type we should be very careful while performing the calculations. We can also say that, we can find the reciprocal of a number by writing the given number in the denominator of a fraction where numerator is 1. So, we get $\left( \dfrac{1}{-4} \right)$ .