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If an altitude above sea level is positive, then an altitude below sea level is negative.If having money is positive, having a debt is negative.If gaining money is positive, losing money is negative (a negative gain).If an increase in speed is a positive acceleration, a decrease in speed is a negative acceleration.Any other similar case, where you define one thing as positive, and its opposite as negative.
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Negative numbers are often used when there are opposites; in this case, one of the opposites is assigned positive numbers, the other, negative numbers. For example, you might:* Use positive numbers for positions above sea level, and negative for below sea level. * Use positive numbers for money you have in your bank account; negative numbers for money you owe others. * Use positive numbers for northern latitudes, and negative numbers for southern latitudes. Or vice versa. * There are lots of other situations where opposites are involved, but you probably get the idea.
Whenever you have two opposites, you can use positive number for one, and negative numbers for the other. For example: * Having money might be positive, owing money might be negative (owing money is worse than just having nothing). * Getting money might be a positive change; spending money (or otherwise losing it), a negative change. * Places above sea level might be assigned a positive altitude; places below sea level, a negative altitude. * If latitudes north of the equator are defined as positive, then latitudes south of the equator would be negative. Or the other way round.
Altitudes above vs. below sea level; having money vs. owing money; moving in one direction vs. moving in the opposite direction; being above and below a certain reference level (for calculating potential energy). In general, in many situations where you have two opposites, one can be called "positive", the other "negative".