

For example the absolute value of (-7) and (+7) are both 7. Absolute value is the distance a number is from zero. One of the key things to understand is absolute value.

We will break down all three scenarios in the section. One number is positive and one is negative. There are three different situations that can occur when finding the distance between two numbers on a number line: Subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive.ĭistance between numbers on a number line Finding the distance between two numbers on a number line.Subtracting a positive is the same as adding a negative.We want to convert subtraction problems to addition problems.This was the same answer as when we subtracted a negative 2. (by the way, this just like subtracting 5 - 2 like we did in elementary)īy adding the positive 2 the sum was negative 3. The two cards (3 and 2) have a sum of positive 5. In the example below we are going to model a positive 2 being subtracted from a positive 5. There are two different situations when subtracting integers: Just like with our addition example, we will use black cards to equal positives and red cards to equal negatives. We will use playing cards to try to model the different situations and then summarize at the end. In this section we will focus on subtracting integers. If you are adding numbers with different signs, find the difference in their absolute values and take the sign of the larger absolute value.If you are adding numbers with the same sign, keep the sign and add the numbers.(Because 5 was originally a positive the answer is positive.

Next, find the difference between the absolute values (5 - 2 = 3)įinally, look at the number with the largest absolute value (5) and keep the sign of that original number. If you are adding two numbers with different signs follow these steps:įirst find the absolute value for each (|5| = 5 and |-2| = 2)
#Integers negative and positive rules plus
The model works great as long as the numbers are small, but what if you had a problem like a positive 548 plus a negative 374? The above number line model shows how positive 5 plus negative 2 equals a positive 3. |-9| = 9We would read this as "the absolute value of negative 9 is 9" Adding Integers |4| = 4 (the two straight lines on each side of the 4 represent the symbol for absolute value) Note that both (8) and (-5) have positive absolute values.

The (-5) is five units from zero so its absolute value is 5. For example "8" is 8 units from zero so its absolute value is 8. The absolute value of an integer is the distance that number is from zero. The negative five is 5 spots to the left of the zero. For example, a positive 5 is located 5 spots to the right of the zero. The opposite of a number is the exact same distance on the opposite side of the zero on a number line. Negative numbers we think of starting at zero and counting to the left.įinding the opposite numbers on a number line Positive numbers we think of starting at zero and counting to the right. Our second class we focused on locating numbers on a number line, Finding their opposites on the number line and determining the absolute value of integers.įinding the location of integers (positive and negative numbers) on a number line.
