How to represent the statement mathematically?

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I am practicing mathematical approaches.

I got all good, except this one:

The excess of $a$ over $b$ is $n$ units

I think that excess mean $+$, so $b + a$ = n, because is $a$ over $b$ is equal to $n$.

Although in this case, it does not matter, since it is a sum.

So, my result was:

$b + a = n$

I also thought of it as:

"The units that make $ a $ greater than $ b $ are $ n $", then:

a + n = b

But the correct result is: $a - b = n$

But, this is not close either, since this result is: $ a - b = -n $.

I think my mistake is in the meaning of "exceeds"

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"The excess of $a$ over $b$ is $n$ units" means "$a$ is greater than $b$ by $n$ units", so $a=b+n$.