Question

Marissa subtracted a negative number from a positive number. Her result was negative. Is that reasonable? Explain.

Answer 1

Subtracting a negative number from a positive number—when you see the subtraction (minus) sign followed by a negative sign, turn the two signs into a plus sign. Thus, instead of subtracting a negative, you're adding a positive, so you have a simple addition problem.

https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/elementary_math/positive_and_negative_numbers/subtracting_positive_and_negative_numbers