Please help! Will give medal! Can someone explain how to tell when the difference is going to be negative or positive in a subtraction problem. If you give an example, please let 'a' be a positive and 'b' be a negative. Thanks!

Question

pinkcandyrosez882 · Answer

@sugarplum15

pinkcandyrosez882 · Answer

@RoseStorm @SneliS

anonymous · Answer

if you subtract b from a and b is larger than a then its negative, if b is smaller than a then the answer is positive

pinkcandyrosez882 · Answer

Thanks! Also, is it a negative if you subtract a negative from a negative?

anonymous · Answer

oh sorry, i forgot to say that if a and b are both positive then what i said is true

anonymous · Answer

if you subtract a negative from a negative it may or may not give a negative result

anonymous · Answer

-2 - (-5) is positive for example

anonymous · Answer

but if you subtract a positive number from a negative number then yes its negative

pinkcandyrosez882 · Answer

Oh okay! Thanks! That helps!

anonymous · Answer

its best to think about these operations using a number line

pinkcandyrosez882 · Answer

ok :)

anonymous · Answer

yw