Understanding Integers and Their Order
Integers are your everyday whole numbers, but they come in three flavours: positive (like 5, 22, 100), zero, and negative . Think of them as the complete family of numbers without any messy decimal points or fractions.
You can arrange integers in two ways that'll be dead useful for your exams. Ascending order means putting numbers from smallest to largest – imagine climbing up a ladder where each step gets bigger. For example: -11, -3, 15, 34, 101.
Descending order works the opposite way, going from largest to smallest like walking down stairs. Here's what it looks like: 9, 3, 0, -5, -16. Remember, negative numbers get "smaller" as they move further from zero.
Place value is brilliant once you get it – each digit's position determines its worth. In the number 6575, the first 6 represents 6000 (thousands), the 5 means 500 (hundreds), the 7 equals 70 (tens), and the final 5 is just 5 (ones).
Top Tip: When ordering negative numbers, remember that -2 is actually bigger than -10 because it's closer to zero on the number line!
