Negative numbers · Year 8
In Year 8 you learn: multiplying and dividing negative numbers.
Negative numbers are numbers below zero. We meet them in cold temperatures, bank overdrafts, floors below ground and depths below sea level. A number line is the best way to picture them: further left means smaller, so −8 is less than −2.
Key facts
- On a number line, numbers get smaller to the left: −7 < −3 < 0 < 2.
- Adding a positive moves right; subtracting a positive moves left.
- Subtracting a negative is the same as adding: 5 − (−3) = 5 + 3 = 8.
- Adding a negative is the same as subtracting: 6 + (−4) = 6 − 4 = 2.
- Multiplying or dividing: same signs give positive, different signs give negative.