Choose Numbers with a Given Difference

Consider the subtraction sentence:

___ – ___ = 5

From the numbers 45, 25, 40, and 15, let's find the suitable numbers to complete the subtraction sentence.

To find the missing numbers, let’s consider all the possible combinations and check which one gives the difference 5.
 

Numbers

Difference

45 and 25

45 – 25 = 20

45 and 40

45 – 40 = 5

45 and 15

45 – 15 = 30

25 and 40

40 – 25 = 15

25 and 15

25 – 15 = 10

40 and 15

40 – 15 = 25


Of the possible combinations, 40 when subtracted from 45 gives the difference 5.

45 – 40 = 5

So, 45 and 40 are the missing numbers.