-16 is bigger or -23 is bigger?

1 Answer
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?
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