3 Wrapping up negative numbers
You now know how to perform the basic operations with negative numbers by hand and using a calculator. Hopefully, your confidence has grown and you will continue to utilise all of your resources as you extend your knowledge and develop new skills.
Here are the important rules to remember again:
Adding and subtracting
- adding a negative number is the same as subtracting the corresponding positive number.
- subtracting a negative number is the same as adding the corresponding positive number.
Multiplying and dividing
- combining two numbers of the same sign gives a positive answer.
- combining two numbers of different signs gives a negative answer.
Well done for reaching the end of another challenging section.
Now you are going to turn your attention to how you read and write using the language of mathematics correctly. This will mean that you can communicate with other people clearly and that your meaning will be understood. So if you were doing some calculations at work or at home that you needed to share with other people, or if you decided to continue with more formally assessed work, others would be able to understand clearly the steps you have taken to arrive at your answer, so that they can trust your answer and know it makes sense.