Additive inverse
The additive inverse of a number is the number which sums to with the other number.
If we have:
we can say that
Thus,
is the additive inverse of
Examples include and
or
and
Overview
In mathematics, the additive inverse of a number is the number that, when added to
, yields zero. This operation is also known as the opposite (number), sign change, and negation. For a real number, it reverses its sign: the opposite of a positive number is negative, and the opposite of a negative number is positive. Zero is the additive inverse of itself.
The additive inverse of is denoted by unary minus:
. For example, the additive inverse of
is
, because
, and the additive inverse of
is
, because
.
The additive inverse is defined as its inverse element under the binary operation of addition, which allows a broad generalization to mathematical objects other than numbers. As for any inverse operation, the double additive inverse has no effect:
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