Red & Black Chips
Manipulatives and More

Red and black chips are often used to model addition and subtraction of integers. A red chip represents -1 and a black chip represents +1. 

Addition

Addition is modeled by combining collections of chips. A red chip and a black chip "cancel" each other, so that any collection of chips with an equal number of reds and blacks represents the number 0. Experiment a little by modeling each of these addition problems.

• 2 + 3
• -1 + (-2)
• 5 + (-3)
• -4 + 2

Subtraction

Subtraction is modeled by taking away chips. You will frequently have to add 0 chips (i.e. an equal number of red and black chips) in order to have enough of one kind to take away. Try these problems.

• 5 - 2
• -3 - (-2)
• 3 - 5
• -2 - (-4)