Question

1 in the example, how can you tell -38 + (-24) will be negative before finding the sum?

Explanation:

To determine the sign of the sum \(-38 + (-24)\) without calculating, we use the rule for adding two negative numbers. When adding two negative integers, the result is always negative. This is because both numbers are negative, and adding two quantities that are both negative (representing a loss or a direction to the left on the number line) will result in a combined value that is also negative. In this case, \(-38\) is negative and \(-24\) is also negative. When we add them, we are essentially combining two negative amounts, so the sum must be negative.

Answer:

We can tell \(-38 + (-24)\) will be negative because we are adding two negative integers. The rule for adding two negative numbers states that the sum of two negative numbers is always negative. Since both \(-38\) and \(-24\) are negative, their sum will also be negative.