Arithmetic Grade Five
Lesson Thirty-five: Adding Negative Numbers
When adding negative values you can figure out if the answer will be
negative or positive by comparing the numbers you are adding.
56 + -61 = -5
61 + -56 = 5
When comparing the numbers ignore the signs and figure out which is larger.
If the first is larger, then your answer will be positive. If the second
number is larger, then your answer will be negative. It may be helpful to
think of the "largeness" of a number in terms of how far away from zero it
is. For instance, -61 is further below zero than +56 is above zero.
Here's another example:
14 + -20 = -6
20 + -14 = 6
When the first number is further away from zero than the second number the
answer will be positive. When the second number is further away from zero
than the first number the answe will be negative.
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