Rita is adding 3 plus negative 8 plus 1 She rewrites the expression as 3 plus negative 1 plus 8 What is Rita’s error?

The original expression is 3 + (−8) + 1. Reordering terms with the commutative property would give 3 + 1 + (−8), so each number keeps its original sign. Rita instead wrote 3 + (−1) + 8, changing the signs of −8 and 1. Therefore, she switched their negative signs.

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