In a game of football, Jared gained 12 yards on the first play of the game. On the second play of the game, Jared lost 12 yards. How many total yards did Jared gain or lose?
Understand the Problem
The question asks to calculate the net yards gained by Jared after two plays, considering both the yards gained and the yards lost.
Answer
$5$ yards
Answer for screen readers
$5$ yards
Steps to Solve
- Represent the yards gained as a positive number.
Jared gained 14 yards, so we represent this as $+14$.
- Represent the yards lost as a negative number.
Jared lost 9 yards, so we represent this as $-9$.
- Calculate the net yards gained by adding the yards from both plays.
To find the net yards gained, we add the yards from the first play to the yards from the second play:
$$ Net\ yards = 14 + (-9) $$
- Simplify the expression.
Adding a negative number is the same as subtracting the positive number:
$$ Net\ yards = 14 - 9 $$
- Perform the subtraction.
$$ Net\ yards = 5 $$
$5$ yards
More Information
Jared's net yards gained is the sum of the yards he gained and the yards he lost. In this case, he gained more yards than he lost, resulting in a positive net gain.
Tips
A common mistake is to subtract the yards gained from the yards lost, instead of adding a negative number. This would result in an incorrect answer with the wrong sign. Always remember to represent losses as negative values and gains as positive values.
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