### Positive and Negative Numbers (Economics)

#### Positive and Negative numbers

See Positive and Negative Numbers for a reminder about positive and negative numbers.

#### Worked Example

###### Example

Suppose that a hairdressing salon wants to know the total profit (or loss) that it made last year. The company made a profit of $£1,800$ in January, $£1,532$ in February, $£270$ in April, $£2,001$ in June, $£1,295$ in July, $£2,010$ in September, $£3,344$ in October and $£4,780$ in December. In March and May the salon made a loss of $£35$, while in August and November they broke even. How much profit (or loss) did the salon make last year?

###### Solution

To determine the total profit (or loss) made by the salon, we must add the profits (or losses) made by the salon each month. A profit is denoted by a positive number and a loss is denoted by a negative number, so we have:

\begin{align} \text{Total profit }&= 1800+1532+(-35)+270+(-35)+2001+1295+0+2010+3344+0+4780\\ &=1800+1532-35+270-35+2001+1295+0+2010+3344+0+4780\\ &=16,962 \end{align}

So the salon made a profit of £16,962 last year.

#### More Support

You can get one-to-one support from Maths-Aid.