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You need to have numbers that represent the idea of taking something away. If I pile up some dirt and consider the ground as level zero. Then the height of my hill is a positive number.

If I dig a ditch, I must take dirt away. If the earth again is ground zero, the depth of my ditch can be given as a negative number.

If my hill is 101 feet high, I use 101, but if it is 101 feet deep, I use -101.

Other examples are owing money as a negative and earning as a positive.

RAWR

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13y ago

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