Subtraction is one of the core arithmetic operations that students encounter early in their math education. It involves calculating the difference between two numbers, which can represent various real-world situations, such as calculating change, measuring distances, or, as in our exercise, determining net profit. When subtracting large numbers, like the box office sales and budget of a movie, it's important to line up the numbers by their place value. Starting from the right, you subtract the smaller number from the larger one, column by column. If necessary, you 'borrow' from the next column.
Here's a simplified example using the exercise figures:
Imagine you have 2,729 dollars and you spend 387 dollars. To find out how much money you have left (your 'net'), you would subtract 387 from 2,729. Subtract each place value individually, and you have:
- 9 minus 7 in the ones place,
- 20 minus 80 in the tens place (after borrowing 100),
- 600 minus 300 in the hundreds place (after the previous borrow),
- 2,000 minus 0 in the thousands place.
The end result would be 2,342, mirroring the exercise where the net profit is calculated by subtracting the expenditure (budget) from the income (total box office sales). This process, when scaled to their respective actual values, shows that 'Avatar' made a significant profit.