🔢 MathGrade 2Lesson 10
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Subtract 2- and 3-Digit Numbers

Lesson preview: the Mini Lesson and Vocabulary are open to everyone. Guided practice, exercises, the parent checklist and the printable PDF worksheet come with full access (free 7-day trial or membership).

What you will learn

  • 1Subtract 2- and 3-digit numbers by hopping backward on a number line
  • 2Use the words minuend, subtrahend, and difference correctly
  • 3State the difference clearly after subtracting
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Mini Lesson

Subtraction means finding how many are left after some are taken away. On a number line, subtraction is the mirror of addition — instead of hopping forward, you hop backward (to the left).

Key vocabulary

  • The number you start with is called the minuend, and it always comes first (19 − 5 is not the same as 5 − 19).
  • The number you subtract is called the subtrahend.
  • The answer is called the difference.

Subtracting ones: 19 − 5

  • Start at 19 on the number line.
  • Hop backward 5 ones, one at a time: 18, 17, 16, 15, 14.
  • You land on 14. So 19 − 5 = 14.

Subtracting tens: 50 − 20

  • Start at 50. Hop backward in jumps of 10, twice: 40, 30.
  • You land on 30. So 50 − 20 = 30.
  • Taking away a ten keeps the ones digit the same: 50, 40, 30.

Subtracting from a 3-digit number: 160 − 40

  • Start at 160. Hop backward in jumps of 10, four times: 150, 140, 130, 120.
  • You land on 120. So 160 − 40 = 120.
  • Hundreds work the same way: for 500 − 300, start at 500 and hop back 3 jumps of 100: 400, 300, 200.

Words to know

Minuend

The number you start with when subtracting

e.g. In 19 − 5, the minuend is 19.

Subtrahend

The number you take away

e.g. In 19 − 5, the subtrahend is 5.

Difference

The answer to a subtraction problem

e.g. The difference of 19 − 5 is 14.

Number line

A line marked with numbers in order

e.g. I hopped backward on the number line to subtract.

Hop backward

Jumping to the left on a number line

e.g. I hopped backward five times from 19.

Number line showing 19 minus 5 equals 14A number line from 10 to 20. A red dot sits on 19. Five curved hops move backward one at a time, landing on 18, 17, 16, 15, and 14. A marker shows 14 as the difference.19 − 5 = ?1011121314151617181920Start5 hops of −119 − 5 = 14
A number line from 10 to 20. Five orange hops move backward from 19 to 14, giving the difference 14.
Number line showing 160 minus 40 equals 120A number line from 100 to 180, marked in steps of 10. A red dot on 160. Four hops of minus 10 each move backward, landing at 150, 140, 130, 120. A marker shows 120 as the difference.160 − 40 = ?100110120130140150160170180Start4 hops of −10160 − 40 = 120
A number line from 100 to 180. Four orange hops of −10 each move backward from 160 to 120, giving the difference 120.
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Ask yourself: "Where do I start? How many hops do I make going left (− 0 means zero hops)? Where do I land?"

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← Lesson 9: Add 2- and 3-Digit NumbersLesson 11: Solve Real-World Word Problems →