AI Tutor
Imagine riding an elevator down to the ground floor, but it keeps going down into the parking garage!
The ground floor is zero (00), and the basement floors below it are called negative numbers.
What happens if we lay these floors flat on a path?

The Number Line

A number line is a straight path that shows numbers in order.
Numbers to the right of zero are positive numbers, and numbers to the left of zero are negative numbers with a little minus sign (−-).
What happens when we take steps backward past zero?

Counting Backwards Past Zero

When we count down by 11, we hop left along the line: 3,2,1,03, 2, 1, 0.
After zero, the very next step is −1-1, followed by −2-2 and −3-3.