Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Negative numbers are usually written with a minus sign in front. For example, −3 represents a negative quantity with a magnitude of three, and is pronounced "minus three" or "negative three". Conversely, a number that is greater than zero is called positive; zero is usually (but not always) thought of as neither positive nor negative. [2] The ...
Therefore, the difference of 5 and 2 is 3; that is, 5 − 2 = 3. While primarily associated with natural numbers in arithmetic , subtraction can also represent removing or decreasing physical and abstract quantities using different kinds of objects including negative numbers , fractions , irrational numbers , vectors , decimals, functions, and ...
The word negative would be used to say that the quantity x is negative, if it equals minus 5. On the other hand, we say "6 minus minus 5 is 11", whereas in the usage of the last comment, we could say, more clearly, "6 minus negative 5 is 11". But if we really want to be that clear, we also have available "6 subtract minus 5 is 11".
The same convention is also used in some computer languages. For example, subtracting −5 from 3 might be read as "positive three take away negative 5", and be shown as 3 − − 5 becomes 3 + 5 = 8, which can be read as: + 3 −1(− 5) or even as + 3 − − 5 becomes + 3 + + 5 = + 8.
1. Denotes subtraction and is read as minus; for example, 3 – 2. 2. Denotes the additive inverse and is read as minus, the negative of, or the opposite of; for example, –2. 3. Also used in place of \ for denoting the set-theoretic complement; see \ in § Set theory. × (multiplication sign) 1.
The name of a negative number is the name of the corresponding positive number preceded by "minus" or (American English) "negative". Thus −5.2 is "minus five point two" or "negative five point two".
The plus and minus symbols are used to show the sign of a number. In mathematics, the sign of a real number is its property of being either positive, negative, or 0.Depending on local conventions, zero may be considered as having its own unique sign, having no sign, or having both positive and negative sign.
In that case you have (the weird looking) -5=-5, which means in English: The unary operator acting on positive 5 results in the number negative 5. To add to your argument, the fact that there are three different meanings to the minus sign makes the statement -5^2=-25 less confusing to new math students.