A modern equation involving positive and negative integers would be –3 + 4 = 1. How would Brahmagupta have represented this equation?

Brahmagupta used fortunes for positive numbers and debts for negative numbers. In −3 + 4 = 1, −3 is three debts and +4 is four fortunes; their sum is +1, or one fortune. So the equation is represented as “Three debts added to four fortunes will be one fortune.”

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