The result of a numerical operation can be negative instead of positive due to the mathematical operations being applied. There are two main scenarios when this can occur:
1. First, subtraction might result in a negative answer. If you subtract a larger number from a smaller one, the result will be negative. For instance, if you have 2 and subtract 5 from it, you're left with -3.
2. The second scenario involves the multiplication or division of two numbers where one of the numbers is positive and the other is negative. When a positive number is multiplied or divided by a negative number, the result is always negative. For example, if you have -2 (a negative number) and multiply it by 3 (a positive number), you get -6.
Therefore, when you see a negative numerical answer, it doesn't necessarily mean there's a mistake. Rather, the operations applied led to that result.