Question

Highlight very briefly why/how when you subtract a negative number, that it yields a positive number. Will give brainliest

Answer 1

When we build integers from natural numbers, we're looking for additive inverse of natural numbers?

What's an additive inverse? Well, for example, the additive inverse of 2 is a numbers $x$ such that

$2+x = 0$

We call this number -2. So, the real meaning behind the negative sign is "if you add me and my positive counterpart, the result is zero".

So, -5 is the additive inverse of 5, -16 is the additive inverse of 16, and so on, because

$5-5=0,\quad 16-16=0,\ldots$

Note that this is a symmetrical relation: if -5 is the inverse of 5, it is also true that 5 is the inverse of -5.

So, when you write something like

$5-(-4)$

it means that you want to add 5 and the inverse of the inverse of 4. But given what we just said, the inverse of the inverse of a number is the number itself, which is why subtracting a negative number is the same as adding it.