The product of some negative number and 4 less than twice that number is 286. find the number

Let's say the number is "a", negative "a" is just -a
twice that value, is 2*-a or -2a
now 4 less than that, is -2a - 4

now, their produc it 286



so.. since we started with "a" as positive but multiplied by -1, then "11" is out fellow

both values do produce 286 btw

but 11 is positive, times -1 is -11

They are somewhat similar