-16 is bigger or -23 is bigger?

1 Answer
Evan V.
Mar 4, 2018

Answer Varies

Explanation:

Depends on what you mean by "bigger". In terms of number, -16 is closer to 0, so is therefore 'bigger'. However, -23 is a larger number, even if it is further into the negative number line.

Notice in this picture how #-16# (A) is closer to #0# (B) than #-23# (D) is.

This doesn't mean that 16 is bigger than 23 is.
So, it really just matters what type of big you are going for.

Purely number, or absolute value?
enter image source here

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