CUNY Edge Bootcamp

Operations
While it may appear at times multiple operations are being performed
simultaneously in mathematics only one operation can be performed at a time. This
requires two numbers and the order in which this happens is governed by the order
of operation. We will see in the solving for an unknown the order of operation may
also be used in reverse when solving for x.

Addition & Subtraction

Approach
1. Identify the sign in front of the numbers
a. The first number in many cases doesn’t have a sign. Do you think this
number is positive or negative? A number without a sign is considered
positive and will have an addition sign. If a number has a minus sign
in front of it, we consider the number to be negative.
2. Are the signs the same or different?
a. If the signs are the same the answer will also have this sign.
b. If the signs are different the answer will have the sign of the larger
number when you ignore the sign.
c. An approach which always works for addition and subtraction would
be the answer always has the same sign as the number with the larger
value when you consider only the value of the number and ignore the
sign in front of it.
3. If the signs are the same you add the two numbers together to get the value
of the answer.
4. If the signs are different you subtract the smaller value from the larger value
to get the value of the answer.
5. To get your final answer use step 2 to determine the sign of your answer and
step 3 or 4 depending on the circumstances to determine the value of the
answer.

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Example 1
32 + 7

Step 1
Identify the signs in front of the numbers
32 is positive (+) 7 is positive (+)

Step 2
Are the signs the same or different
• Positive (+) positive (+) the signs are the same
• 32 is the larger number its sign is positive (+)

Step 3 or Step 4
The signs are the same so we utilize step 3
32 + 7 = 39

Step 5
In step 2 the sign is positive so our answer is positive. In step 3 or 4 the value of
adding the two numbers is 39. Our final answer is positive (+)39 or 39
32 + 7 = 39

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Example 2
23 -7

Step 1
Identify the signs in front of the numbers
23 is positive (+) 7 is negative (-)
Step 2
Are the signs the same or different
• Positive (+) negative (-) the signs are different
• 23 is the larger number its sign is positive (+)

Step 3 or Step 4
The signs are different so we utilize step 4
23 - 7 = 16

Step 5
In step 2 the sign is positive so our answer is positive. In step 3 or 4 the value of
subtracting the smaller number from the larger number is 16. Our final answer is
positive (+)16 or 16
23-7 = 16

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Example 3
-32 -7

Step 1
Identify the signs in front of the numbers
32 is negative (-) 7 is negative (-)

Step 2
Are the signs the same or different
• negative (-) negative (-) the signs are the same
• 32 is the larger number its sign is negative (-)

Step 3 or Step 4
The signs are the same so we utilize step 3
32 + 7 = 39

Step 5
In step 2 the sign is negative so our answer is negative. In step 3 or 4 the value of
adding the two numbers is 39. Our final answer is negative (-)39 or -39
-32 - 7 = -39

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Example 4
-23 + 7

Step 1
Identify the signs in front of the numbers
23 is negative (-) 7 is positive (+)
Step 2
Are the signs the same or different
• negative (-) positive (+) the signs are different
• 23 is the larger number its sign is negative (-)

Step 3 or Step 4
The signs are different so we utilize step 4
23 - 7 = 16

Step 5
In step 2 the sign is negative so our answer is negative. In step 3 or 4 the value of
subtracting the smaller number from the larger number is 16. Our final answer is
negative (-)16 or -16
-23+7 = -16

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Example 5
Subtraction special case
8--3 or 8 – (-3)
if there are two subtraction signs appearing in the fashion as seen above one
additional step is required. When subtraction sign appear as seen above you
will be required to change the two subtraction signs into a single addition
sign.
8 – (-3) will become 8+3 then the approach outlined earlier is applied

-83 - - 30 or -83 – (-30)

-83 – (-30) will become -83 + 30 then the approach outlined earlier is applied

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Multiplication
Approach
1. Identify the sign in front of the numbers
a. The first number in many cases doesn’t have a sign. Do you think this
number is positive or negative? A number without a sign is considered
positive and will have an addition sign. If a number has a minus sign
in front of it, we consider the number to be negative.
2. Are the signs the same or different?
a. If the signs are the same (two positive or two negative numbers) the
answer will positive. This rule comes with some caveats (warnings). In
this course we are assuming you are only performing multiplication on
two numbers at a time.
b. If the signs are different the answer will be negative. In this course we
will work with the signs and value separately.
3. If the signs are the same you simply perform multiplication on the values.
4. If the signs are different you place a negative sign in the answer section of
your page perform the multiplication on the numbers, and then place the
value of your answer.
To get your final answer use step 2 to determine the sign of your answer and step 3
or 4 depending on the circumstances to determine the value of the answer.

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Example 1
23 x 4

Step 1
Identify the signs in front of the numbers
23 is positive (+) 4 is positive (+)

Step 2
Are the signs the same or different
• positive (+) positive (+) the signs are the same
• therefore, the answer is positive (+)

Step 3 or Step 4
The signs are the same so we utilize step 3
23 x 4 = 92

Step 5
In step 2 the sign is positive so our answer is positive. In step 3 or 4 the value is 92.
Our final answer is positive (+)92 or 92
23 x 4 = 92

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Example 2
-23 x -4

Step 1
Identify the signs in front of the numbers
23 is negative (-) 4 is negative (-)

Step 2
Are the signs the same or different
• negative (-) negative (-) the signs are the same
• therefore, the answer is positive

Step 3 or Step 4
The signs are the same so we utilize step 3
23 x 4 = 92

Step 5
In step 2 the sign is positive so our answer is positive. In step 3 or 4 the value is 92.
Our final answer is positive (+)92 or 92
-23 x -4 = 92

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Example 3
-45 x 7

Step 1
Identify the signs in front of the numbers
45 is negative (-) 7 is positive (+)

Step 2
Are the signs the same or different
• negative (-) positive (+) the signs are different
• therefore, the answer is negative

Step 3 or Step 4
The signs are different so we utilize step 4
(Value) 45 x 7 = 315
(sign) Answer = -

Step 5
In step 2 the sign is negative so our answer is negative. In step 3 or 4 the value is
315. Our final answer is negative (-)315 or -315
-45 x 7 = -315

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Division
Division follows the same rules as multiplication regarding the signs however, it
utilizes two methods for obtaining the value.
There are two important rules in division regarding division:
• If the numerator is equal to 0 the answer is always 0
• If the denominator is equal to 0 the answer is always undefined

Examples

 24  18 8
or -24 ÷ -6 or -18 ÷ 3 or 8÷2
6 3 2

0 6
or 0 ÷ 10 or 6÷0
10 0

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