- #1
cowah22
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I have a dumb question. What is the difference between "difference" and "subtraction" or is the same thing. For example, 2 subtract 2 (2-2) is 0 .. But is the difference between 2 and -2 equal to 4?
Yes, but you are comparing two different things. "2 subtract 2 (2-2) is 0" and "the difference between 2 and 2 is 0" (not -2). "2 subtract -2 (2-(-2)= 2+ 2) is 4" and "the difference between 2 and -2 is 4".cowah22 said:I have a dumb question. What is the difference between "difference" and "subtraction" or is the same thing. For example, 2 subtract 2 (2-2) is 0 .. But is the difference between 2 and -2 equal to 4?
What do you mean by "and" here? Normally "and" is interpreted as a sum: -2+ 2= 0. You seem to be thinking about -2- 2= -4.VashtiMaiden said:How come? sorry, still noobish, but shouldn't be -2 and 2 = -4?
No. Here, you ADD the negative number (-2) with itself. The difference between a number and itself is, of course 0.cowah22 said:Seems odd, that: -2 + -2 = -4 (difference is +4?)
Here, you SUBTRACT the positive number 2 from itself, giving 0 as the result.and the opposite: +2 - +2 = 0 (difference is 0?)
seems strange..
arildno said:No. Here, you ADD the negative number (-2) with itself. The difference between a number and itself is, of course 0.
Here, you SUBTRACT the positive number 2 from itself, giving 0 as the result.
cowah22 said:Strange.. My calculator told me different.
cowah22 said:Well, I entered: 2,+/-, +, 2, +/-, = into the calculator and it returned -4. I tried this on several calculators and the answer was -4 each time. But then I tried it on another calculator, which converted 2,+/-, +,2,+/- into:
-(-(2)+2) which is 0 ... But if you flip this around (swap + and - signs) you get
((-2)-2) which is -4 Strange?
cowah22 said:How can a mathematical opposite not be the inverse, when looking at
-2 + -2
+2 - +2
There shouldn't be any multiplication here, right?
nuby said:Same with multiplication:
-2 * -2 = 4 why shouldn't this be -4 ?
2 * 2 = 4
division: -2 / -2 = 1
how can a positive number come from 2 negative numbers?
2 / 2 = 1
Sigh. What do you mean by "come from"?nuby said:Same with multiplication:
-2 * -2 = 4 why shouldn't this be -4 ?
2 * 2 = 4
division: -2 / -2 = 1
how can a positive number come from 2 negative numbers?
2 / 2 = 1
cowah22 said:I just meant, if there isn't a positive number in an equation how can the result ever be negative.
If:
4 * 4 = 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 16
Why isn't:
-4 * -4 = -4 + -4 + -4 + -4 = -16
I know these seem like stupid questions.. But really, where would something like -4 * -4 = 16 ever occur in nature or physics... Which math is used to explain.
Correct.cowah22 said:I just meant, if there isn't a positive number in an equation how can the result ever be negative.
If:
4 * 4 = 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 16
Wrong. Here, you add -4 FOUR times with itself, rather than adding it MINUS FOUR times with itself.Why isn't:
-4 * -4 = -4 + -4 + -4 + -4 = -16
I know these seem like stupid questions.. But really, where would something like -4 * -4 = 16 ever occur in nature or physics... Which math is used to explain.
The term 'difference' refers to the result of subtracting one quantity from another. On the other hand, subtraction is the mathematical operation of taking away one quantity from another.
Borrowing in subtraction refers to the process of taking a unit from the digit to the left in order to subtract a larger number from a smaller one. This is necessary when the digit being subtracted is larger than the digit it is being subtracted from.
The minuend is the number from which another number is being subtracted, while the subtrahend is the number being subtracted. The difference is the result of subtracting the subtrahend from the minuend.
A number line is a visual representation of numbers that can be used to perform subtraction. It helps to visualize the process of counting backwards and determining the difference between two numbers.
To check your answer in a subtraction problem, you can use the inverse operation of addition. Simply add the difference to the subtrahend and the result should be equal to the minuend. You can also use a calculator to verify your answer.