Question

Hannah was adding 5 plus -4. When explaining her work she said that the sum is 9 because you add the numbers and take the sign of the larger number. In complete sentences explain what Hannah got wrong. What should the correct answer be?

Answer 1

The sum is 1

Explanation:

When you add a negative number to a positive number, it is basically just subtracting the negative from the positive. To make it simple, 5 + -4 is just 5 - 4.

Hannah was wrong in saying you take the sign of the larger number because it would not matter if the first number was a million, the signs don't change based on the size of numbers.