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973 B
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| Adding and Subtracting Negative Numbers |
Adding and Subtracting Negative Numbers
Adding and subtracting positive numbers is fairly straighforward, but what does it mean to add and subtract negative numbers? Let's look at a real world example to get a better idea. Suppose we have a basket with some balloons tied to it pushing it upward and some weights tied to it pushing it down. Think of the force pulling the balloon up as a positive number and the force pulling it down as a negative number. If we add more weights, it's like we're adding a negative number and the basket gets pulled down. If we remove weights, we are subtracting a negative number and the basket gets pulled up.
Examples
(-1) + 3 = 2
(-3) + (-3) = -6
(-2) - 4 = -6
(-10) + 2 = -8
20 + (-44) = -24