If there is a negative sign beside the fraction bar, does that mean the numerator and denominator are both negative?

Question

In math, sometimes I see a negative symbol beside the fraction bar. Does that mean both the numerator and the denominator are negative, or just the numerator?

Answer 1

No, it means the whole fraction is negative. So $$-\frac 12=-\left(\frac 12\right)$$ Both the $1$ and the $2$ are positive, then we apply the negative sign to the whole thing.

Answer 2

The negative sign in front of the bar could by multiplied by the top or the bottom but not both.

For example $$-\frac {3}{5} = \frac {-3}{5} = \frac {3}{-5}$$

or $$ -\frac {-2}{7} = \frac {2}{7} $$

or $$ - \frac {5}{-6} =\frac {5}{6} $$

Answer 3

Elaborating a bit on the previous answer, that the whole fraction is negative means that the numerator and the denominator have opposing signs. It doesn't matter which is positive and which is negative

$$ -\frac{1}{2}=\frac{-1}{2}=\frac{1}{-2}$$