What is the "difference" between -8 and +8 ?
ND says that "difference" means subtract, but does that mean I calculate 8 - (-8) = 16, or do I calculate (-8) - 8 = -16 ? Is the "difference" 16 or -16 ?
Does it matter which number comes first ? That is, if I ask for the "difference" between -8 and +8, would I get a different answer than if I ask for the "difference" between +8 and -8 ? Shouldn't they be the same ?
I think that the "difference" between two numbers is the modulus of one number minus the other, that is, the "difference" between two numbers is a positive number. The "difference" between -8 and +8 is +16, not -16. They are 16 apart on the number line.
That is why I think that ND's answer to this question is wrong. ND's "difference" 2N-8 implies that 2N is greater than 8. Then, if the algebra says that N=-4, (producing a "difference" of -16), we have a contradiction, meaning that there is no N such that 2N>8 meeting the requirements of the question.
If there is no solution for which 2N>8, we have to consider the possibility that 2N<8, (and, in passing, the possibility that 2N=8, easy to reject that).
2N<8 leads to the equation 8 - 2N = 9N + 20, and the solution to that is N = -12/11.