Math can be a fun and enjoyable experience . I remember being a child and having to remember math procedures and how to calculate this and that. Well for those of you who are mathematically impaired, like I was this article is for you. Math is such an important subject that it must be understood and mastered. Yet, who says we can not have fun while doing this though! I believe math should not be considered this"Dark art of doom and gloom", but another stepping stone seeking to be mastered. In the article below I will do my absolute best to simplify the concepts of addition and subtraction to refresh your memory.

Good old Addition:

Excuse me miss, but I have twenty apples and was thinking about buying another thirty apples for my collection how many apples will I have after I've bought the thirty apples? Geez, I hate writing word problems, just as much as I hate reading them, but life goes on. This may not seem like the average conversation occurring in life but, without the knowledge of Math the poor buyer would not be aware of how many apples they would get back.

How to Do Addition

The basics of addition are simple(once you get a hang of it). According to one of the first scripts written about addition the numbers were broken down into three groups. You have terms, addends and resultants. The term is the number you start of with(for this example will use 4). The Addends is the number you add or combine with the term(for this example we will use 5). Finally the Resultant, which is the sum or the combined terms and addends(In this example it would be 9). In addition you will see the term with a "+" sign in between it and the addends as well as an "=" sign between the addends and the sum. (Ex: 4+5=9)

The purpose of addition is to combine like terms together in order to form bigger terms(Terms with more value). Its counterpart is Subtraction and it is completely opposed to addition ( Do you get it...I made a funny). Oh never mind lets continue on to subtraction, maybe I will have better luck teaching that then making jokes.

Good old Subtraction: The Undoing of Addition

Excuss me sir, but I have fifteen puppies and wanted to give seven to a lucky few individuals. Can you please tell me how many puppies I will have left after I have given up my seven puppies? Once again, maybe not the best example, but you can see the necessity of understanding subtraction. What happens if the puppy owner gives away too many puppies? In subtraction you will see the Minuend(which is always the biggest number) being subtracted by the Subtrahend(which is smaller than the Minuend) and yields the(difference) which is the results of the subtraction between the two.(Ex. 15-7=8)

The purpose of subtraction is to separate like terms to form smaller terms(Terms with less value). Its counterpart is Addition and is completely removed from any idea of separation(Did you get that one...no? Well you can't get em all). Thanks for reading