Distance on Number Line

Free interactive math game: Distance on Number Line — From -3 to 5 = 8. Part of the Negative Numbers category on MathKite.

Example problems

Taken from the generator that powers this exercise. A fresh set appears every time the page is opened, and the printable worksheet holds ten of them.

  1. Distance from 3 to 8:
  2. Distance from 9 to 7:
  3. Distance from -4 to 4:
  4. Distance from -9 to -2:

About this exercise

The distance between two points on a number line.

How to solve it

Subtract the smaller from the larger, or count the steps across zero. Distance is never negative.

Worked example

From -3 to 5 is 3 steps up to zero and 5 beyond, giving a distance of 8.

Common mistake

Subtracting in the wrong order and reporting a negative distance. A distance is always a count of steps.