Subtraction with Algebra

Algebra Help: Section 2.6

Learn basic subtraction with algebra. Subtraction is the process of finding the difference between two quantities.

Case 1

Find the difference between similar terms.

1. A and B travel north from the same point. The distance A travels is 7m. The distance B travels is 4m. How much farther north is A than B?

OPERATION:

Minuend    7m
Subtrahend 4m
          ______
Difference 3m

ANALYSIS - A must have traveled father north than B, because A's distance, 7m, exceeds B's distance, 4m. The equation 7m - 4m = 3m, is the answer.

2. A and B start from the same point. A travels north a distance of 7m. B travels south a distance of 4m. How much father north is A than B?

ALGEBRAIC OPERATION:

Minuend     +  7m
Subtrahend  -  4m 
           ________
Difference   +11m

ANALYSIS - Indicate different directions by opposite signs; north by plus, and south by minus. Since A traveled 7m north, while B traveled 4m south, A must be 11m father north than B. To indicate the northern direction from B, use the plus sign. Therefore the answer's +11m.

The expression, +11m, in the last example, is called the algebraic difference of +7m and -4m, because it denotes their distance apart. Subtraction, with algebra, doesn't always decrease values. Consider positive and negative quantities as opposite in circumstances, or opposite in directions. Therefore the difference, or space between two quantities, is their apparent sum.

The difference in latitude between a location 7 degrees north and a location 4 degrees south, appears like addition, as follows.

7 + 4 =  11 degrees

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Help with Algebra Homework

Free tutorials provide math help for math problems. Tutorials start with algebra 1. Algebra tutorials include word problems related to algebra topics, as they're introduced. See the menu, above for algebra math equations, and explanation, by section.

Windows algebra games, designed to help with classwork, coming soon! Windows games, in progress, work with this set of free tutorials, modified from the public domain text book titled, New Elementary Algebra containing the rudiments of the science for schools and academies. By Horation N Robinison, LL. D. Ivison, Blakeman & Company, Publishers, New York and Chicago.

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