Question

use counters to add -7 + 3. you start with: red counters with minus signs. you add: orange counters with plus signs. which picture shows the sum? red counters with minus signs in different quantities shown as options

Explanation:

Step1: Understand the addition

We are adding - 7 and 3. Red circles with a minus sign represent - 1 each and orange circles with a plus sign represent + 1 each. Starting with 7 negative - value counters and adding 3 positive - value counters means we are combining negative and positive quantities.

Step2: Perform the addition

When we add a positive and a negative counter, they cancel each other out. We have 3 positive counters and 7 negative counters. After canceling out 3 pairs of positive and negative counters, we are left with \(7 - 3=4\) negative counters.

Answer:

The picture with 4 red circles (negative counters) shows the sum.