A diver descended from a rock that is 45 feet below sea level to a coral reef is -88 feet. How far did hr descend from the rock to the coral reef

Question

Help me I am confused do I add or subtract

Answer 1

Yeah that's a confusing way to word that, I understand why you're having trouble.

 

If you picture this happening the diver is already underwater and he's going deeper and we're just trying to figure out how far he went down.  He's going from 45 below the water to 88 feet below, so the distance is the difference of those two numbers. 

Using integers to represent the subtraction would look like -88 - -45 = -43 feet.  So he descends 43 feet to get from the rock to the coral reef.  

You may also use the fact that subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive, so it could look this this:

-88 - -45 = -88 + 45 = -43.