Question

Take apart the number to make a 10. Then subtract.

Answer 1

Answer:

This is one of a variety of "subtraction solutions"--basically a different way to subtract by breaking numbers down into 10-digit chunks.  It's not especially helpful for small subtraction problems, but as math gets more complicated, this method will come in handy.

Step-by-step explanation:

Here's an example: Jim had a bag of 15 jelly beans.  He eats 8.  How many jelly beans does he have left?  Take apart the number to make a 10. Then subtract.

Here, you need to "take apart" the 8 to make your 15 jelly beans 10, then you subtract the remainder of 8 to get your solution.  In other words,

 --"take apart" 8 into 5 and 3 (because you're going to need a 5 to make 15 into 10).  15 minus 5 equals 10.  HOORAY!  You have your 10.  Now, subtract the remaining 3.  10 minus 3 equals 7.  Huzzah--your final answer!

On paper, the problem looks like this:

15 - 8 (5, 3) = ?

15 - 5 = 10

10 - 3 = 7

So...15 - 8 = 7