What is 4 minus negative 42?

Here we will not only give you the answer to 4 minus negative 42, but also explain how we got the answer.

Start by picturing a number line that goes to negative infinity on the left side of 0 and positive infinity on the right side of 0:

∞ ..... -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, .... ∞

Looking at the number line above, we can make the following observation:

Adding a positive number goes to the right.
Adding a negative number goes to the left.

Adding and subtracting cannot go in the same direction on a number line. Therefore, this must also be true:

Subtracting a positive number goes to the left.
Subtracting a negative number goes to the right.

Thus, with the problem 4 minus negative 42, we are subtracting a negative number and we go to the right. Specifically, we go from +4 to +46 on the number line.

Here is 4 minus negative 42 in mathematical terms with the answer:

4 - (-42) = 46

You may already know that minus minus equals plus or that 4 minus negative 42 is the same as 4 plus 42, but we hope that this page explained the underlying mathematical reason for the answer.

Minus Negative Calculator
The answer to 4 minus negative 42 is not all we know. Try a similar problem here.

What is 4 minus negative 43?
Here is a similar math problem that we explained and solved.