Tutor Help: Integers

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Skill: integers

Tutor Help: Integers

Stuck on signs? Recap the rules, try the self-help fixes, or preview a tutor request.

Tutor help · Integers: Concepts & Order of Operations

Integers are whole numbers with a direction. The absolute value |x| is distance from zero; opposites cancel to zero.

Adding: same sign → add and keep; different signs → subtract and keep the bigger absolute value’s sign. Subtracting: add the opposite — minus a negative is plus a positive.

Multiplying/dividing: same signs → positive, different signs → negative. And in order of operations, a leading minus loses to an exponent: −2² = −4, (−2)² = 4.

How to get unstuck in 5 minutes

  1. 1Re-read the lesson section that matches your problem.
  2. 2Work one practice problem with the hint turned on.
  3. 3Check your answer with the step-by-step tool.
  4. 4Still stuck? Use the demo request form below.

1 Quick self-help

Three fixes that solve most stuck moments.

1

Sign soup?

Handle signs FIRST, numbers second. Decide + or − before you touch the magnitudes — half of all errors vanish.

2

Minus a negative?

Rewrite it instantly: −5 − (−3) becomes −5 + 3. Never try to “think through” a double minus in your head.

3

Exponent on a negative?

Ask: does the exponent see the minus? Only parentheses say yes. −2² = −4, (−2)² = 4.

2 Common questions

Short answers to the questions tutors hear most.

Is −5 + 3 really −2? It feels like −8.
Answer
Walk it: start at −5, go right 3. You land on −2. Different signs subtract: 5 − 3 = 2, and the bigger absolute value (−5) lends its sign.
Why is (−2) × (−3) positive?
Answer
Each negative flips direction; two flips face you forward again. The sign rule “same signs → positive” is the shortcut for that double flip.
When is a negative answer wrong?
Answer
Check with the number line or by estimating: if you subtracted a negative and got smaller, you slipped — minus a negative always grows the value.

3 Ask a tutor

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