Question

A submarine elevation is -14 feet relative to sea level. A shark is swimming at elevation of -56 feet what is the difference in evevation between the submarine and the shark

Answer 1

In order to solve this kind of problem, we must find the difference between two negative numbers describing elevation. Although when you have 2 negative numbers in a subtraction-elevation problem, the elevation difference won't be negative... It would be positive. -56 - (-14) would usually equal -42 feet but that would just describe a regular negative subtraction problem, so it becomes 42 feet. This answer is positive since it describe the distance between these integers.