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Study in the app →Mathematics · Year 7 · Chapter 1
Below zero
Practice
- −5 or −2 — which is greater?
- −2 — closer to zero
- 3 − 7
- −4
- −4 + 6
- 2
- −3 − 2
- −5
- 0 − 8
- −8
- −6 + 6
- 0
- −2 + (−3)
- −5
- 5 − (−2)
- 7 — subtracting a negative adds
- −7 + 3
- −4
- −10 or 1 — greater?
- 1
Easy questions
- −3 or 2 — greater?
- 2
- 5 − 8
- −3
- −2 + 2
- 0
- −1 − 1
- −2
- 0 − 4
- −4
Medium questions
- −5 or −2 — greater?
- −2
- −4 + 7
- 3
- −3 − 4
- −7
- −6 + 2
- −4
- 2 − 9
- −7
Hard questions
- 5 − (−3)
- 8
- −2 − (−5)
- 3 — remove a 5-debt from −2
- It's −3°. It drops 5°, then rises 2°. Now?
- −6°
- −8 + 8 − 1
- −1
- Order: −5, 3, −1, 0
- −5, −1, 0, 3
Lesson
The number line keeps going
Zero isn't a wall — the number line runs straight past it. Every step LEFT is smaller, every step RIGHT is greater, and that rule doesn't change below zero: −2 sits to the right of −5, so −2 is greater. The '5' in −5 tells you how FAR from zero you are, not how big you are — far below zero is small (and cold). Adding moves you right; subtracting moves you left: −4 + 6 walks six steps right to 2. The strangest-looking rule is subtracting a negative: 5 − (−2) means removing a debt, which leaves you better off — two steps RIGHT, so 7. When any of it feels slippery, stop calculating and walk the line.
- Order, coldest to warmest: −5, −2, 0, 3.
- −4 + 6 = 2 — start at −4, walk 6 right.
- 3 − 7 = −4 — walk 7 left, straight past zero.
- 5 − (−2) = 7 — taking away a minus is a plus.
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