How do you do these maths sums?!

[Badonkadonk999]

Anyone?

if you add a negative number to another number then it's basically the same as subtracting it.
subtracting a negative number becomes an addition.
You can effectively ignore the letters here because they're the same in each equation so you just need to add / subtract the numbers.
e.g. 6x+(-3x) = 6x - 3x = 3x
-5q-(-6q)-(-7q) = -5q+6q+7q = 8q

Thank u! And how do you do these? Last ones I promise

so again you can ignore the letter because they're the same in each equation. I assume they want you to find what should be in the brackets so you need to switch it round e.g. ( ) + a = 5a you can probably do it in your head that you need to add 4a to a to get 5a but if you wanted to show your workings you'd subtract a from each side of the equation so ( ) = 5a - a = 4a
a on it's own is basically 1a.

If adding a positive number, you add as normal.
If adding a negative number, you subtract as normal.
If subtracting a positive number, you subtract.
If subtracting a negative number, you add because two negatives make a positive.

All the terms are similar (same letter) which makes it more straightforward.

So...

6x + (-3x) = 6x - 3x = 3x
8x - (+4x) = 8x - 4x = 4x
2x - (-6x) = 2x + 6x = 8x
etc etc

Cross posts!

at least we agree @CoffeeChocolateWine ! I was digging deep on my school maths there!

I see you've been given some help with how to approach positive and negative numbers OP. I hope this has helped but are you a student wanting help with your homework? If so, please ask your teacher for more help instead of coming here for answers. Also a YouTube search of adding/subtracting positive and negative numbers should help too.

if you add a negative number to another number then it's basically the same as subtracting it.
subtracting a negative number becomes an addition.

I've never really got that! If you have -5 apples and you add another -5 apples, you don't suddenly have 10 apples.

No. You have -10 apples!

No. You have -10

Phew!!

i just realised it says simplify at the top- does that make any different to how you do these sims?

@Badonkadonk999 it might help OP if you tell us why you would like some help with this maths. There's no number answer to solve as such in these questions. Simplify in these questions means putting each algebraic term in it's most simplest way.
For instance : instead of writing 2x+5x you write 7x.

Simplify just means express it as fewer terms as possible. In this case as the letters are all the same so it wants you to express it as one term. So in the first example: 6x + (-3x), the simplified answer is 3x because you are giving the answer in a single x term. Hope that makes sense!

The OP didn't say anything about any apples

No need for the face.

Another poster was asking for clarification because they've never 'got' it, and they were using apples as their own example.

It's the internet - there's nothing wrong with someone else also asking a question on a maths thread.

simplify = collect up the terms (or put fraction in simplest form)
expand = multiply out the brackets
solve = find the unknown
factorise = put into brackets (or find the things that multiply together)

Think of it as a bank balance. Positive is credit, negative is debt. If you add £5 of debt to another £5 of debt you have £10 debt. If you add £5 of credit to £5 of debt you get £0, so you’ve just cleared your debt.

Oh, and the ‘simplifying’ of the equations means reducing them down to common factors, like finding the lowest common denominator in fractions.

It’s dependent on the phrasing

eg the example quoted was to add a negative number to a number, but didn’t clarify that the second number had generally been positive

-5 add 5 means the same as 5-5

You can think of adding and subtracting on a ruler, move right when adding and move left when subtracting

To allow for below zero use two rulers
The middle is zero
The left ruler is treated as negative
The right ruler as positive

So if you start treating -5 as number 5 on the left
Then takeaway 5 by counting 5 to the left and you come to 10 on the left which gives you -10

…. Or the back of a receipt