The subtraction of natural numbers
Operations with natural numbers I
 
2. Properties of natural number subtraction .

Subtraction doesn´t have the same properties as addition.
Natural numbers are not closed in subtraction, because in order to subtract two natural numbers the minuend has to be higher than the subtrahend. If that doesn´t happen that subtraction is not possible in the natural numbers set, because the result wouldn´t be a natural number.
The subtraction doesn´t have the conmutative property, that is, we cannot change the position of minuend and subtrahend. The subtraction doesn´t have the associative property either.

  Esta unidad interactiva requiere la máquina virtual de Java J2RE.

Fundamental property of subtraction.

If we add the same number to or subtract the same number from the minuend and the subtrahend, we will obtain an equivalent subtraction.

In this window you can see and check this property step by step

 
     
         
  Eduardo Barbero Corral
 
Spanish Ministry of Education. Year 2007
 
 


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