If a<span> is less than </span>b<span>, and they are both positive, then </span>a<span> is closer to 0 than </span>b<span>. The opposite of </span>a<span> is also closer to zero than the opposite of </span>b<span>, so the opposite of a must be larger than the opposite of </span>b. T<span>he number further left on a number line is the smaller number, for positive numbers, the number closest to zero is smaller.</span>