A gas expands and does 82.7 J of work on the surroundings. At the same time, the gas loses 103 J of energy to the surroundings as heat. What is the change in the internal energy of the gas?
would this be ΔE = q + w (-103) + (82.7) = -20.3. I get confused with the positive and negative charges.

Well to be honest, I've never considered the math concerning a fart before, but if you say so, well who am I to question you.