Example

Adding 1+(4)-1 + (-4), 1+5-1 + 5, and 1+(5)1 + (-5) with Counters

We can apply the two-color counter strategy to compute various integer addition problems: For the same-sign problem 1+(4)-1 + (-4), simply group the 1 negative counter with the 4 negative counters to get a total of 5 negative counters, yielding 5-5. For the different-sign problem 1+5-1 + 5, the single negative counter cancels out one of the 5 positive counters to make a neutral pair; the remaining 4 positive counters give a sum of 44. For the different-sign problem 1+(5)1 + (-5), the single positive counter cancels out one of the 5 negative counters, leaving exactly 4 negative counters for a sum of 4-4.

0

1

Updated 2026-05-01

Contributors are:

Who are from:

Tags

OpenStax

Intermediate Algebra @ OpenStax

Ch.1 Foundations - Intermediate Algebra @ OpenStax

Algebra

Related