Question

Paul came in with a discovery about subtracting integers. Rather than subtracting, Paul says all he has to do I add the opposite of the second number, Create a subtraction problem with integer tiles and check out Paul's claim. Is paul right?

Answer 1

Subtracting integers can be represented using integer tiles. For example, if we want to subtract -3 from 4, we can lay out 4 tiles on the number line and then add -3 tiles, like this:

4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3

The subtraction problem can be represented as 4 + (-3). Adding the opposite of the second number, as Paul suggests, means finding the sum of 4 and -3, which is 1. So, Paul is correct that subtracting integers is equivalent to adding the opposite of the second number.