This page is intended to teach any reader how to add and subtract integers. Maybe someone will ask it how to add and subtract whole numbers, but it’s the same thing. This procedure and mathematical operation are one of the most important. If one does not learn well how to add and subtract integers, then one has a huge problem with all other mathematical operations that follow. Therefore, every reader must connect things and materials well to learn this mathematical operation well.
Add And Subtract Integers
On the page below you can see:
- How to add integers
- How to subtract integers
Let’s go step by step through these interrelated mathematical operations. Logically, to subtract integers, you must first learn to add integers. Let’s get started:
How To Add Integers
When adding whole numbers, the following rules apply:
- If the integers we add have the same sign, we add the numbers by absolute value, and the result we got has the same sign as the individual integers.
- If the integers we add have a different value, we subtract the numbers (higher absolute value minus the lower), and the result has the same sign as the whole number with a higher absolute value.
See the solved examples below on the page:
Example 1: Calculate the sum of the numbers:
In the example above, we need to add the integers (-5) and (-4). Both numbers have the same minus sign. Because their signs are the same, we add the numbers, and the sign in the result remains the same. The result of adding these two numbers is -9!
Example 2: Calculate the sum of the numbers:
In the example above, we need to add the integers (+5) and (+4). Both numbers have the same plus sign. Because their signs are the same, we add the numbers, and the sign in the result remains the same. The result of adding these two numbers is +9!
Example 3: Calculate the sum of the numbers:
In the third example we need to add the numbers (-5) and (+4). The two numbers have different signs. The number 5 has a plus sign, while the number 4 has a minus sign. When adding these numbers, we calculate the difference of a larger and smaller absolute value (5-4), and the result has the same sign as the number that is larger in absolute value – the number (-5). The result of the task is -1!
How To Subtract Integers
When subtracting whole numbers, which have already been written down in a certain example, the following rules apply:
- First we copy the first number.
- Then we change the – sign to + (we change the subtraction operation with addition).
- We change the sign of the second number.
- Finally, we add the numbers obtained after completing the previous three steps.
Take a look at the following example, which shows all the steps well:
Example 4: Calculate the difference between the numbers:
We go in order, following the rules! We write the first number in the same way as it is set in the example, we change the – sign to +, and we change the sign of the second number with its opposite sign! By completing the first three steps, we obtain the expression:
Logically, this is already an integer addition example that is identical in form to example number 3, which we have already solved above. Here, because the numbers have different signs, we subtract them by absolute value, and the result has the same sign as the number with the larger absolute value. The result of example number 4 is +1!
Use the video material below to see many solved examples of problems that write very well how to add and subtract whole numbers!
Good luck, and much success in your math studies!
