Robinson Tuition
Grade 2 · Foundation · free GCSE maths worksheet

Negative numbers in context

Temperatures, bank balances, adding and subtracting negatives.

14 original questions, 24 marks. Print the worksheet, mark it with the answers sheet, and use the solutions to see every step written out by hand.

Worksheet PDFWorked solutions PDFAnswers PDF

The questions

1

Which is colder, −4°C or −9°C?

1 mark
Show answer
-9°C
2

The temperatures in five cities one morning were

−3°C, 5°C, −8°C, 0°C, 2°C

Write these temperatures in order, starting with the lowest.

2 marks
Show answer
-8, -3, 0, 2, 5
3

Work out −3 + 8

1 mark
Show answer
5
4

Work out 4 − 9

1 mark
Show answer
-5
5

At 6 am the temperature was 4°C. By midnight it had fallen by 11°C.

What was the temperature at midnight?

2 marks
Show answer
-7°C
6

Amira has £45 in her bank account. She pays a bill of £60.

  1. Work out her new balance.
  2. She then pays £100 into the account. Work out her balance now.
2 marks
Show answer
a) -£15 b) £85
7

A lift is on floor 2. It goes down 5 floors. The floors below the ground floor are numbered −1, −2, −3 and so on.

Which floor is the lift on now?

1 mark
Show answer
-3
8

Work out −6 − 5

1 mark
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-11
9

A submarine is 40 m below sea level. It rises 25 m.

  1. Write the new position of the submarine as a negative number, in metres, compared with sea level.
  2. How many more metres must it rise to reach sea level?
2 marks
Show answer
a) -15 m b) 15 m
10

Work out

  1. 5 − (−3)
  2. −2 − (−6)
2 marks
Show answer
a) 8 b) 4
11

In one week the lowest temperature was −8°C and the highest was 6°C.

Work out the difference between the highest and lowest temperatures.

2 marks
Show answer
14°C
12

At midnight the temperature in York was −4 °C.

By 4 am the temperature had fallen by 5 °C.

By 10 am the temperature had risen by 8 °C from its 4 am value.

Work out the temperature at 10 am.

2 marks
Show answer
-1°C
13

The temperature in Cardiff is 3 °C.

The temperature in Oslo is −8 °C.

Work out how many degrees colder Oslo is than Cardiff.

2 marks
Show answer
11
14
  1. Work out (−4)2
  2. Work out 2 − (−7)
  3. Put a pair of brackets in this statement to make it true.
    3 − 5 × 2 = −4
3 marks
Show answer
a) 16 b) 9 c) (3 - 5) × 2 = -4

Every question here is original and written by Robinson Tuition. The grade follows the Edexcel grade descriptors and suits AQA and OCR too; this is not an exam-board paper.

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