Question

Subtract the following with the help of the number line.
4 – 1.

Answer 1

Hint: First of all locate 4 on the number line. Then subtract 1 or add (– 1) to 4, move 1 unit left from 4, whatever value you would arrive at will be your desired answer.

Complete step-by-step answer:
Here, we need to subtract (4 – 1) using the number line. Additions and subtractions on a number line is a neat way to see how numbers are added and subtracted using visual interpretation. To add a positive number in the number line means that we have to move the point to the right of the number line. Similarly, to add a negative number implies that we move the point to the left of the number line.

Now let us consider our question. Here, we need to find the value of (4 – 1) using the number line. We know that subtraction is nothing but the addition of a negative number. So we can write 4 – 1 = 4 + (– 1). So, we need to find E = 4 + (– 1) using the number line.
Let us first locate the first number which is 4 on the number line.

Now, we are going to add a negative one (– 1) which tells us to move 1 unit to the left starting from 4, so we get,

By moving to one unit left from 4, we arrive at 3. So we get, E = 4 + (– 1) = 3
Or, E = 4 – 1 = 3.
So, from the number line, we get 4 – 1 = 3.

Note: Students can verify their answer by naturally adding or subtracting the number after doing that using the number line. Also, students must remember that to add a positive number, we need to move the right side according to the magnitude of the number while to add a negative number or to subtract a number, we need to move left side according to the magnitude of the number to get the desired result.