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Liu Hui (c. 3rd century) established rules for adding and subtracting negative numbers. [4] By the 7th century, Indian mathematicians such as Brahmagupta were describing the use of negative numbers. Islamic mathematicians further developed the rules of subtracting and multiplying negative numbers and solved problems with negative coefficients. [5]
The plus sign (+) and the minus sign (−) are mathematical symbols used to denote positive and negative functions, respectively. In addition, + represents the operation of addition , which results in a sum , while − represents subtraction , resulting in a difference . [ 1 ]
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.
Subtraction also obeys predictable rules concerning related operations, such as addition and multiplication. All of these rules can be proven, starting with the subtraction of integers and generalizing up through the real numbers and beyond. General binary operations that follow these patterns are studied in abstract algebra.
In elementary mathematics, the additive inverse is often referred to as the opposite number, [3] [4] or its negative. [5] The unary operation of arithmetic negation [6] is closely related to subtraction [7] and is important in solving algebraic equations. [8] Not all sets where addition is defined have an additive inverse, such as the natural ...
The plus–minus sign or plus-or-minus sign (±) and the complementary minus-or-plus sign (∓) are symbols with broadly similar multiple meanings. In mathematics , the ± sign generally indicates a choice of exactly two possible values, one of which is obtained through addition and the other through subtraction .
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".
By the above laws, one can add or subtract the same number to all three terms, or multiply or divide all three terms by same nonzero number and reverse all inequalities if that number is negative. Hence, for example, a < b + e < c is equivalent to a − e < b < c − e.