Subtraction

Subtraction

Subtraction means taking a number away from another number. It is a basic math operation that shows up as a minus sign (-) and tells you how to figure out the difference between two numbers.

What is subtraction 

With subtraction, you can find the difference between two numbers. When a few things are taken away from a group of things, the group gets smaller. For instance, you bought 9 cupcakes for your birthday party, but only 7 of them were eaten. Now you only have two cupcakes left. This can also be written as a subtraction equation:16 – 5 = 11, which means “sixteen minus five equals 11 two.” When we take 5 away from the number 11, we get 2. Here, we used subtraction to get the difference of 11 between the numbers 16 and 5.

Subtraction symbol 

In mathematics, there are several symbols. The subtraction sign is one of the most essential mathematical symbols used in subtraction. In the preceding part, we learned how to subtract integers 9 and 7. The sign (-) joins the two integers and completes the supplied phrase if we notice the subtraction: (9 – 7 = 2). This sign is also known as the subtraction sign.

Subtraction Formula 

When we subtract two numbers, we use some terms that are used in the subtraction expression:

Minuend: The number that is subtracted from the other number.

The number that needs to be taken away from the minuend.

Difference: The answer you get when you take the subtrahend away from the minuend.

The way to write the subtraction formula is: Minuend – Subtrahend = Difference

Let’s use an example to understand the “formula” or “mathematical equation” for subtraction.

How to solve subtraction problems? 

When solving subtraction problems, it’s easy to subtract one-digit numbers. For larger numbers, though, we divide them into columns based on their place values, such as Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, etc. We might be able to solve some of these problems by borrowing money and some by not doing so. Regrouping is another name for subtraction with borrowing. We use the regrouping method when the minuend is less than the subtrahend. When regrouping, we take one number from the column above to make the first number bigger than the second number. Let’s look at some examples to see what it mean.

Subtraction without regrouping 

Example : Subtract 45762 from 68795.

Note: In subtraction, we always take away the smaller number from the bigger number to get the right answer.

Follow the steps and try to figure out what they have to do with the picture below.

Step 1: Start with the number in the “ones” spot. (6 – 4 = 2)

Step 2: Go to the tens place. (8 – 5 = 2)

Step 3: Take away the numbers at the hundreds place. (7 – 7 = 0)

Step 4: Take away the numbers in the thousands place. (9 – 6 = 3)

Step 5: Now, take away the numbers in the ten thousands place. (5 – 2 = 3)

Step 6: The difference between the two numbers is therefore: 68795 – 45762 = 22033.

Subtraction with regrouping 

For example, take 2375 away from 6131.

Follow the steps and try to figure out what they have to do with the picture below.

We need to figure out: 6131 – 2375

Step 1: Start taking away numbers from the one’s place. It’s clear that 5 is bigger than 1. So, we’ll take one from the tens column, making the total 11. Now, 11 minus 5 is 6.

Step 2: After putting 1 in the “ones” column in Step 1, “3” becomes “2.” Now, let’s take the numbers in the tens place away (2 – 7). Since 7 is bigger than 2, we’ll take 1 from the hundreds column. This makes it twelve. So,12 – 7 = 5 tens.

Step 3: In step 2, we gave 1 to the tens column, so the hundreds place is now empty. To subtract the numbers in the hundreds place, which is (0 – 3), we will take 1 from the thousands column. This makes it ten. So, 10 – 3 = 7 hundred.

Step 4: Let’s now take away the numbers in the thousand’s place. We have 5 after adding 1 to the hundreds column. So, 5 – 2 = 3

Step 5: The difference between the two numbers is therefore: 6131 – 2375 = 3756

Subtraction using number line 

A number line is a visual tool that helps us learn how to do subtraction because we can move back and forth on each number. Let’s look at subtraction on a number line to figure out how this works. Let’s use a number line to take away 5 from 16. We’ll start by putting a mark on the number line for 16. When we use a number line to do subtraction, we move one number to the left at a time. Since we’re taking 5 away from 16, we’ll move to the left 5 times. The answer is the number you land on after five jumps backward. Thus, 16 – 5 = 11.

Topic related to subtraction

Check out these interesting articles to know about subtraction and its related topics.

• Binary Subtraction
• Addition and Subtraction of Fractions
• Subtraction of Complex Numbers
• Subtraction of Fractions

Important notes on subtraction 

Here are some important things to remember when doing subtraction in your daily life.

• Any problem with subtraction can be turned into a problem with addition and vice versa.
• If you take 0 away from any number, the difference is the number itself.
• When you take 1 away from any number, the difference is equal to the number before it.
• When you see words like “Minus,” “Less,” “Difference,” “Decrease,” “Take Away,” and “Deduct,” you know you need to take one number away from another.

 Subtraction examples :  

Question 1: In an examination, 92,403 students appeared. 67,039 students passed. How many students failed?

Ans – Total number of Students Appeared = 92403

Number of Students Passed = 67039

Number of Students Failed = 92403 – 67039 

Question 2 : There were 80,536 bags of rice in go down. 32,208 bags were taken out in the month of March and 25,729 bags in April. How many bags of rice were left now?

Ans – Number of Rice Bags taken out in march = 32208 

Number of Rice Bags taken out in April = 25729 

Total Rice Bags taken out = 322208 + 25729

Now to find out the Total Number of Rice Bags in Godown = 80536 

Number of Rice bags Taken out = 80536 – 57937

Frequently Asked Questions FAQs on Subtraction