Place integers on a number line. Negative on left, positive on right.

Arrange -5, 3, -1, 0, 7 on a Number Line

The Question

Place the integers -5, 3, -1, 0, 7 on a number line and arrange them in ascending order.

What Is a Number Line?

A number line is a straight horizontal line with numbers placed at equal intervals.

The key ideas:

Zero (0) is at the centre.
Positive numbers go to the right of zero: 1, 2, 3, 4 …
Negative numbers go to the left of zero: -1, -2, -3, -4 …
Numbers increase as we go right, and decrease as we go left.

Placing the Numbers

Let’s draw the number line and mark each number.

← -6  -5  -4  -3  -2  -1  0  +1  +2  +3  +4  +5  +6  +7 →
       ↑              ↑   ↑                  ↑              ↑
      -5             -1   0                  3              7

Let’s place them one at a time:

-5: Negative number. Go 5 steps left from 0. Mark it.

-1: Negative number. Go 1 step left from 0. Mark it.

0: Zero. Mark at the centre.

3: Positive number. Go 3 steps right from 0. Mark it.

7: Positive number. Go 7 steps right from 0. Mark it.

Reading the Order from the Number Line

Once all five numbers are on the number line, we can read them from left to right. Left to right is ascending order (smallest to largest).

From left to right: -5, -1, 0, 3, 7

So the ascending order is: -5 < -1 < 0 < 3 < 7

And descending order (largest to smallest): 7 > 3 > 0 > -1 > -5

Key Rules for Comparing Integers

Every positive integer is greater than zero.
Every negative integer is less than zero.
Every positive integer is greater than every negative integer.
Among negative integers, the one with the smaller value (further left) is actually the smaller number. → -5 < -1 (even though 5 > 1 as plain numbers!)

The last point is the one students find tricky — let’s understand it.

Why Is -5 Less Than -1?

Think of temperature:

-5°C is colder than -1°C.
The colder temperature is the smaller number.
So -5 < -1.

Think of floors in a building:

Floor B1 (= -1) is just one floor below ground.
Floor B5 (= -5) is five floors below ground — much deeper.
Floor B5 is “lower” — so -5 < -1.

Think of debt:

Owing ₹1 (debt = -1) is not too bad.
Owing ₹5 (debt = -5) is worse — a bigger debt.
-5 < -1 because -5 represents a worse situation.

On the number line, further left = smaller. And -5 is further left than -1.

A common mistake is thinking that -5 > -1 because “5 is bigger than 1.”

But with negative numbers, the larger the digit, the further LEFT it is, which means it is the SMALLER number.

-5 < -1 (not -5 > -1)

Using the Number Line to Compare Any Two Integers

To compare any two integers without a full number line, follow this rule:

The number further to the right is always greater.
All positive numbers are to the right of all negative numbers.
So any positive number > any negative number.

Quick comparisons:

3 vs -10: 3 is positive, -10 is negative → 3 > -10
-2 vs -8: -2 is to the right of -8 → -2 > -8
0 vs -100: 0 is to the right of all negative numbers → 0 > -100

Try These Similar Problems

Problem 1: Arrange these in ascending order: -3, 5, -7, 0, 2

Negatives are smallest (further left), then zero, then positives. Among the negatives: -7 < -3.

Ascending order: -7, -3, 0, 2, 5

Problem 2: Which is greater: -99 or -1?

-1 is to the right of -99 on the number line. -1 > -99

Even though 99 is a much bigger digit, -99 represents a very large debt/very low temperature. It is much smaller as an integer.

Problem 3: Find two integers that are at a distance of 3 from -2 on the number line.

From -2, going 3 steps RIGHT: -2 + 3 = +1 From -2, going 3 steps LEFT: -2 - 3 = -5

The two integers are 1 and -5.

Exam tip: In questions where you need to place integers on a number line, always draw the line first, mark zero in the middle, then place each number carefully — negatives to the left, positives to the right. For “arrange in ascending order,” just read your number line from left to right.