Subtract Two Four-Digit Numbers With No Exchanging

In this activity, we are going to practise subtracting a 4-digit number from another 4-digit number.

We are not going to be doing any exchanging (or borrowing) - you can try some other activities with exchanging when you feel confident.

 

The column method is an efficient method for subtracting large numbers, so this is what we are going to use.

 

Top Tips:

Write each digit clearly.

Check the digits are in the correct order (it is easy to muddle them up!)

Make sure each digit is in the correct column.

Start at the ones and work towards the left-hand column (this will help when we start to exchange!)

It can be useful to use squared paper if you are writing out the questions.

We can't swap the digits around  (4 - 6 can't be re-written as 6 - 4)

 

 

Example

6,478 - 2,357 = 

 

 

We set out the question as shown in the example above.

Each digit must go in the correct column as shown.

We then subtract the bottom digit from the top in each column, starting with the ones column.

We write the answer at the bottom as shown below.

 

 

Things get trickier when we cross ten and need to exchange but we will look at this in another activity.

 

Now why don't we have a go at answering some questions using this method?

We can come back and look at the example if we get stuck by clicking on the red help button on the screen. 

 

 

Good luck!