Subtraction

Subtraction is determining the difference of two separate numbers and answers the question of how much more must be added to a given number to obtain a given total. The symbol for subtraction is the minus sign (–).

3 + ? = 5
? = 5 – 3 = 2

The inverse (opposite) operation of subtraction is addition.

Related concepts

• addition
• arithmetic
• division
• exponentiation
• logarithm taking
• multiplication
• number
• numeral
• root taking