We have been given that the football team gained 4 yards on a play, lost 8 yards on the next play, then gained 2 yards on the third play.
Gain can be represented by plus and loss can be represented by minus sign.
Thus, we have
gained 4 yards means +4
lost 8 yards means -8
gained 2 yards means +2
Therefore, the addition expression to describe the total change of yardage is given by
[tex]+4-8+2[/tex]
Now we have
[tex]+4-8=-4[/tex]
Thus, we have
[tex]-4+2\\ =-2[/tex]
We got minus sign, which means loss.
Hence, the football team lost 2 yards.