lesson
Updated 1 month ago · 5 views
Imagine you are in an elevator deep underground on floor -3.
If you press the up button to go up 2 floors, where will you land?
Moving Up and to the Right
A number line is a straight path of numbers where negative numbers are on the left and positive numbers are on the right.
Whenever we add a positive number, we always move to the right or up toward the bigger numbers.
📊Interactive diagram
Starting at −3 and hopping 2 steps to the right lands you on −1, so −3+2=−1.
What happens if we take a giant jump that goes past zero?
Crossing Past Zero
Let's solve −2+5 by starting at −2 and jumping 5 steps to the right.
📊Interactive diagram
The first 2 steps bring you to zero, and the next 3 steps carry you into the positive numbers to land on +3.