Video: The Additive Inverse Property

Given that 𝑏 is the additive inverse of 𝑎, which of the following is true? [A] 𝑎 − 𝑏 = 0 [B] 𝑎 − 𝑏 = 1 [C] 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 0 [D] 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 1 [E] 𝑎 × 𝑏 = 1

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Video Transcript

Given that 𝑏 is the additive inverse of 𝑎, which of the following is true? a) 𝑎 minus 𝑏 equals zero, b) 𝑎 minus 𝑏 equals one, c) 𝑎 plus 𝑏 equals zero, d) 𝑎 plus 𝑏 equals one, or e) 𝑎 times 𝑏 equals one.

What is an additive inverse? It’s what you add to a number to get zero. The additive inverse of 𝑎 is such that when you add it to 𝑎, you get zero. We’re already told that 𝑏 is the additive inverse of 𝑎, and that means 𝑎 plus 𝑏 must equal zero. It means that 𝑏 is negative 𝑎.