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Number Line
Negative numbers, positive numbers and jumps along the line (for Years 1–3).
Examples
Tap for an automatic animationAction
How to use it
The number line is a way of seeing numbers laid out on a straight line. Every number has its own place.
- Negative numbers — positives sit to the right of zero, negatives to the left.
- Addition means jumping right. Subtraction means jumping left.
- The frog 🐸 hops one number at a time until it reaches the answer.
- In Compare mode, the line marks which number is larger.
3 worked examples:
- 5 + 3 — start at 5, hop 3 to the right: 6, 7, 8. The answer is 8.
- 2 − 4 — start at 2, hop 4 to the left: 1, 0, −1, −2. The answer is −2.
- −3 ⟷ −1 — both numbers are negative, but −1 is closer to 0, so it is the larger one.
💼 Real-life uses: temperature (above/below 0°C), lifts going up and down, working out debt or savings.
Related tools
✖️ Interactive Times Table
An interactive 12×12 grid — click a cell, practise, print.
½ Fractions Calculator
Add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions — with worked solutions.
() Order of Operations
Shows the order step by step: brackets → indices → multiplication and division → addition and subtraction.
✍️ Written by the MathsUK teamChecked against the National Curriculum and GCSE specifications