Akash's cell phone bill was $79.99 per month for 3 months. His payments came out of his

checking account each month.

The following equation describes this situation

-79.99*3=239.97

what does - 239.97 tell us?

If we know that Akash's cell phone bill was $79.99 for a single month, we can understand what - 239.97 is telling us. $79.99 is the cost per month for the cell phone bill. If we multiply 79.99 by 3, we now know that 239.97 represents how much the bill is at the end of the 3 months.

Therefore, Akash's cell phone bill at the end of the 3 months was 239.97.

The reason 239.97 has a negative sign in front of it is because Akash owes money.

We know - 79.99$ • 3 = - 239.97$, so

-239.97$ would be the amount she paid for her cell phone in 3 months.