Chapter 9 - Basic Algebra - 9.2 Adding and Subtracting Signed Numbers - 9.2 Exercises - Page 640: 7

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To add $-8+5$, we can take the absolute value of both numbers. $|-8|=8$ $|5|=5$ These two numbers differ in absolute value by 3. We must add a negative sign in front of 3 because the number with the higher absolute value is negative, so the result will be negative. Therefore, $-8+5=-3$.