## UnkleRhaukus 2 years ago what is the difference between negative and minus

1. ilikephysics2

there is no difference bro

2. ilikephysics2

i dont think there is its the same

3. UnkleRhaukus

well i just watched a (logic) lecture where the professor stressed that the difference was important, even thought he failed to explain what is was

4. ganeshie8

negative is a state, minus is a operator

5. ilikephysics2

they are basically the same though

6. sauravshakya

Negative means false

7. ganeshie8

it can be true also, if the original is false hehe in logic, id like to think, negative as opposite direction, and minus is just a removal of some part, from the whole

8. akash_809

i think ganesh is right, you can say theta squre root of a negative numbers is not defined, but you can't say that square root of minus number or minus of a numer is not defined, so you can't use negative and minus synonymously.

9. akash_809

sry its that the instaed of theta in previous comment

10. UnkleRhaukus

so a minus requires a reference point?

11. akash_809

@UnkleRhaukus yes obviously minus would require a refrence point as far as i know.

12. UnkleRhaukus

and in the case that no reference pint has been specified , why can't we always assume it is zero?

13. akash_809

you can always assume that, but the only point i tried to make was that minus and negative can't be used interchangibly,

14. akash_809

so you can't say they are the same

15. UnkleRhaukus

what is a single example where it matters ?

16. UnkleRhaukus

i want an example

17. ganeshie8

suppose b is positive, negative b means, b IS negative minus b means, b is positive, but we just removing the quantity b from ?

18. UnkleRhaukus

from the origin-al zero

19. ganeshie8

yes from the original zero, its a must i guess when we talk negative numbers to take 0 as reference hmm

20. dianosaur

minus is the actual operation of subtracting numbers. The negative sign indicates the integer. For example 5 - (-3). The - in the middle is the minus and the - in the bracket would be the negative. You could consider them as being the same honestly. If you look at 5 - 3, it could be re-written as 5 - (+3) and so on.

21. ganeshie8

|dw:1349329129825:dw|

22. ganeshie8

|dw:1349329163496:dw|

23. UnkleRhaukus

$\large\ddot\eta$

24. ganeshie8

|dw:1349329183017:dw|

25. ganeshie8

|dw:1349329235832:dw|

26. ganeshie8

though, with reference to 5, the top quantity is less, its not a -ve state. where as, the bottom quantity IS in -ve state. coz its in opposite direction.

27. shubhamsrg

well there is a grammatical difference atleast.. suppose you have 5 and 3 5 minus 3 makes sense,, but 5 negative 3 ? will that be right ?

28. Kimberlina

negative makes a number opposite of positive of positive and minus is the reason a question is subtraction

29. shunyao

i think minus is a algorithms ,and negative is a description of the results of this algorithms

30. UnkleRhaukus

$\Large\begin{array}{|c|c|}\hline\\ \Psi&\neg\Psi\\ \hline \\T&F\\ F&T\\\hline\end{array}$