Question

Interpret whether the following problem is solved correctly. If not, explain where the errors were made and solve the problem correctly. Show all of your work 2 + (-5) + 15+ (-3) 2-5+ 15-3 2- 20-3 2-17 - 15

Answer 1

We have the following steps applied to solve this expression:

`\begin{gathered} 1)2+(-5)+15+(-3) \\ 2)2-5+15-3 \\ 3)2-20-3 \\ 4)2-17 \\ 5)-15 \end{gathered}`

The mistakes are made in steps 3 and 4, where the sum of the terms are done.

The sum did not respect the signs in the operation:

`-5+15\\eq-20`

The sum should have done like this:

`-5+15=15-5=10`

The correct steps are:

`\begin{gathered} 2+(-5)+15+(-3) \\ 2-5+15-3 \\ (2-5)+(15-3) \\ -3+12 \\ 12-3 \\ 9 \end{gathered}`