Explanation:
left to right.
the smallest numbers are on the left, the largest in the right.
all the numbers in the line are sorted.
so, going from left to right the numbers get continuously larger (no exception), and when going from right to left, they get continuously smaller.
remember that the negative numbers are smaller than the positive numbers. so, the negative numbers (if there are any in your case) are on the left side.
and negative numbers get smaller by "seemingly increasing" : -1 is larger than -2 and so on.
so, the range of the negative numbers starts on the left side with the "largest" negative number (but when you think about it, it IS the smallest number) and their absolute value gets smaller until they reach 0, and then the positive numbers start from small to large.
this also asked to fractions and mixed fraction numbers :
e.g. -2 1/2 is smaller than -2 and larger than -3.
because it is -2 + -1/2 = -2 - 1/2 = -2 1/2.
in that sense it is the same principle as with positive numbers :
2 1/2 = 2 + 1/2
-2 1/2 = -2 - 1/2