How can you express an inverse operation for addition?

The inverse operation for addition is subtraction. This relationship is fundamental in mathematics; for any number 'a', if you add 'b' to it (a + b), the way to return to the original number 'a' is to subtract 'b' from the sum ( (a + b) - b = a ). This shows that subtraction effectively undoes or reverses the effect of addition.

In contrast, the other operations mentioned do not directly serve as inverses for addition. For example, multiplication is the inverse operation of division, not addition. Similarly, exponentiation and its inverse, taking the root, are related to multiplicative operations rather than additive ones. Therefore, when considering how to reverse the effect of adding a value, subtraction is indeed the correct operation that will yield the original number back. This understanding is essential in algebra and arithmetic, making subtraction the proper inverse to addition.