Three minutes to talk about popular science
Hello everyone!We're going to explore the world of mathematics again, and maybe we'll discover more interesting math secrets!Grab your pen and paper, they're waiting for you to take notes!
Like 3 and -3, two numbers with different symbols are called opposites. For such a pair, the absolute values are equal, and the plus and minus signs are opposite. For example, -5 and +5 are inverses of each other.
In general, let a be a positive number, and there are two points on the number line that are separated from the origin point by a, which are about and right from the origin, representing -a and a (Figure 1), and we say that these two points are symmetrical with respect to the origin.
In general, a and -a are inverses to each other. In particular, the opposite of 0 is 0. Here, a is any number, which can be positive, negative, or 0.
Let a denote a number, and if a is less than 0, then -a is not a negative number. This is because the value of a is negative at this point, and with the addition of the - sign, it should be a positive number.
The sum of two numbers that are opposite to each other must be 0. Also, to find the opposite of a number, just add the "-" sign in front of the number. For example, -(2)=-2, -(2)=2
The significance of the opposite number is that it reflects the distance relationship between two points on the number line. On the number line, the midpoint of any two opposite numbers is at the position of the origin, and they are at equal distances from the origin. This shows that the distribution of opposite numbers on the number line is characterized by symmetry with respect to the origin. In addition, finding the opposite number is also very simple, just add a negative sign in front of the original number. This method also exemplifies the representation of opposite numbers in algebra.
In conclusion, opposite numbers, as a mathematical tool, play an important role in simplifying operations, geometric studies, quantities describing opposite meanings, and simplification of mathematical symbols.