#Negative minus negative equal positive plus

#Negative minus negative equal positive plus

There is no need to write two plus signs in this sum. The final case shows two positive signs being replaced with one.įor example, 6 + + 3 is the same as 6 + 3, which equals 9.

Two negative signs are replaced with a single addition.Ģ – – 5 is the same as 2 + 5, which equals 7. The two signs ‘-‘ are the same, so we will be performing an addition. Here is an example of subtracting a negative number. In these examples, the combination of ‘+ -‘ or ‘- +’ were replaced with a single subtraction. These rules are used when there are two signs next to each other in an equation.įor example, 10 + – 4 can be written as 10 – 4, which equals 6.ġ7 – + 6 can be written as 17 – 6, which equals 11. There are four rules for adding and subtracting negative numbers, which are: In the case of ‘-‘, the first negative sign changes the negative sign it is next to into a ‘+’. A negative sign will change the sign next to it to have the opposite effect. We can think of the negative sign as having an opposite effect.

Here is a guide to the rules for adding and subtracting directed numbers. If there is a positive and negative sign in any order, then perform a subtraction.

If there are two negative signs or two postive signs, then perform an addition. The rule for adding and subtracting negative numbers is to add the numbers if the signs are the same and to subtract the numbers if the signs are different. Rules for Adding and Subtracting Negative Numbers