Is there a word for opposite numbers?
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Chapters
00:00 Is There A Word For Opposite Numbers?
00:22 Accepted Answer Score 23
00:38 Answer 2 Score 5
01:05 Answer 3 Score 3
01:47 Thank you
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#wordchoice #terminology #numbers #mathematics
#avk47
ACCEPTED ANSWER
Score 23
It's called the additive inverse.
In a less technical context, you could just call them negatives of each other.
Similarly, 5
and 1/5
are multiplicative inverses.
ANSWER 2
Score 5
This is hardly mainstream English, but there is a term.
The identity element under addition for the set of reals (or the set of integers) is zero;
x + 0 = 0 + x = x
The element that must be added to any element to give the identity element as the product (the general term for result of a binary operation; here the sum) is, for addition, known as the additive inverse of that element (number).
ANSWER 3
Score 3
As noted by Barmar, additive inverse is the technically correct term, but in your context, you could use the following phrase:
There's an issue with records that contain values that differ only in their sign. For example, -100 and +100.
You could also say:
There's an issue with records that contain values that have equal magnitude but opposite sign. For example, -100 and +100.
I have read both these in various textbooks written by American authors. You could pick one of these alternatives, or a similar variant, depending on your audience.