Minusmerkki

Minusmerkki is a Finnish term that translates to "minus sign" in English. It refers to the hyphen-like symbol used in mathematics to denote subtraction or a negative quantity. As a mathematical operator, the minus sign indicates the operation of taking one value away from another. For example, in the expression 5 - 3, the minus sign signifies that 3 is to be subtracted from 5, resulting in 2. When placed before a number, such as -7, the minus sign indicates that the number is negative, meaning it is less than zero. This concept is fundamental in arithmetic and is used extensively in algebra, calculus, and various other branches of mathematics. The symbol itself is typically a horizontal bar.