Explain negative numbers?

Question

Would someone on here please explain in simplistic detail how to do negative numbers? Thank you.

Answer 1

so imagine that there is a meter stick on the floor in front of you.

instead of 0 being on the end like normal, it is in the middle

all the numbers on the left are negative, and the ones on the right are positive.

when adding/subtracting you do the opposite for example:

3+4=7

3+ - 4=-1

when multiplying/dividing, the sign does not matter(positive/negative), until the end, when you 'add' then up

3 x 4 x 5 = 60

- 3 x 4 x 5 = - 60 ( an odd number of negative signs, makes the answer negative)

- 3 x - 4 x 5 = 60 ( an even number of negative signs, makes the answer positive)

Answer 2

A negative number is a number that is less than zero, such as −2. A positive number is a number that is greater than zero, such as 2. Zero itself is neither positive nor negative. The non-negative numbers are the real numbers that are not negative (they are positive or zero). The non-positive numbers are the real numbers that are not positive (they are negative or zero).

In the context of complex numbers, positive implies real, but for clarity one may say "positive real number".

Negative integers can be regarded as an extension of the natural numbers, such that the equation x - y = z has a meaningful solution z for all values of x and y. The other sets of numbers are then derived as progressively more elaborate extensions and generalizations from the integers.

Negative numbers are useful to describe values on a scale that goes below zero, such as temperature, and also in bookkeeping where they can be used to represent credits. In bookkeeping, amounts owing to other people/organisations are often represented by red numbers, or a number in parentheses.

The negative of a number is unique, as is shown by the following proof.

Let x be a number and let –x be its negative. Let . Let  be another negative of x. By an axiom of the real number system

,

.

And so, . Using the law of cancellation for addition, it is seen that . Therefore  is the same number as  and is the unique negative of x.