Revision Notes

Class - 7 Maths
Chapter 1 - Integers

Definition of integers
• All whole numbers and their negatives form the set of numbers which
represent integers.
• The whole numbers are those numbers which contain 0 . So, we can
represent integers as ..., −2, −1,0,1,2,... .
Representation on the number line
Let us recall how to represent integers on a number line, add and subtract them
by considering the examples.
1. Integers −3 and 4 can be represented on the number line as shown
below:

2. Addition of integers is performed as below:

2+3=5
(−3) + (−4) = −7
−10 + 1 = −9
3. Subtraction of integers is performed as below:
2 − 3 = −1
(−3) − (−4) = 1
(−4) − 10 = −14
Properties of addition and subtraction of integers
Let us look at the properties satisfied by addition and subtraction of integers.
(a) Integers are closed for both addition and subtraction. It means that if a
and b are integers, then a + b and a − b are also integers.

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 (b) Addition is commutative for integers. For all integers a and b ,
a + b = b + a.
(c) Addition is associative for integers. For all integers a , b and c ,
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c) .
(d) Adding the integer 0 to any integer a results in the integer a , i.e.,
a + 0 = a = 0 + a . So, we can say that 0 is the additive identity for
integers.
Multiplication of integers
We learnt how to multiply integers, both positive and negative integers. The
findings are:
1. When a positive and a negative integer are multiplied, the result is a
negative integer. For example, −6  2 = −12 .
2. When two negative integers or two positive integers are multiplied, the
result is a positive integer. For example, −5  −3 = 15 and 6  3 = 18 .
3. When an even number of negative integers are multiplied together, the
result is positive. For example, −2  −3  −4  −5 = 120 .
4. When an odd number of negative integers is multiplied together, the
result is negative. For example, −2  −3  −4 = −24 .
Properties of multiplication of integers
Let us look at the properties satisfied by multiplication of integers.
(a) Integers are closed under multiplication. For any two integers a and b ,
a  b is also an integer.
(b) Multiplication is commutative for integers. For any two integers a and
b , a b = ba.
(c) Multiplication is associative for integers. For any three integers a , b and
c , (a  b)  c = a  (b  c) .
(d) Any integer a multiplied by the integer 1 gives the integer a . So, we can
say that 1 is the multiplicative identity of integers.
Distributive property
When operations of addition and multiplication are considered, the integers
show a property called distributive property.
For any three integers a,b and c , a  ( b + c ) = a  b + a  c .

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By making use of the properties of commutativity, associativity under addition
and multiplication, and the distributive property, we can easily simplify the
expressions and complete the calculations faster.
Division of integers
We learnt how to divide integers, both positive and negative. The findings are:
(a) Dividing a positive integer by a negative integer results in a negative
integer as the quotient and vice-versa. For example, −24  3 = −8 .
(b) Dividing a negative integer by another negative integer or dividing a
positive integer by another positive integer results in a positive integer
as the quotient. For example, −35  −5 = 7 and 121  11 = 11.
Properties of division of integers
• Division of integers does not follow the commutative and associative
properties.
• For any integer a ,
(a) a  0 is not defined
(b) 0  a = 0,a  0
(c) a  1 = a
(d) a  (−1) = −a

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