On the particular day on which Chef Henri bought the 4 dozen eggs from M. Egblanc, he used 4 dozen eggs to fill orders at his restaurant that night. We can represent the eggs he bought as +4 (positive four) and the eggs he used as -4 (negative four). If he adds these together, he will find that he has no eggs left. 4 + -4 = 0.
This is an example of the Property of Opposites.
The numbers 4 and -4 are examples of additive inverses or opposites. The additive inverse of
17 is -17,
the additive inverse of
-42 is 42,
and the additive inverse of -½ is ½. Adding additive inverses will always produce the sum of zero.