Negative number
A negative number is a number below zero. It can be an
integer or a decimal
and is written with a minus sign (-) in front of it, like this: -3
You can get an idea of what a negative number is with a number line, like this one:
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|- ...
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
You can see from this number line that you can continue counting down when you get to zero.
Negative numbers represent things like very cold temperatures, and overdrawn bank balances!
Here is a problem for you:
What is the number below - 2?
