Question

Minnie is making tea. She knows that her tea tastes best if she lets her tea bag sit in the hot water for exactly fifteen minutes. However, depending how hot the water is, she may have to leave her tea bag in the water for 2 minutes more or less than usual. Write and solve an absolute value equation to describe this situation

Answer 1

|x - 2| = 15 ; |x + 2| = 15

Explanation:

Given that:

Wait time = 15 minutes

Variation in wait time depending on level of hotness = 2 minutes

X ± 2 = 15

x + 2 = 15 or x - 2 = 15

x = 15 - 2 = 13 or x = 15 + 2 = 17

Hence, to express the above as an absolute value equation :

|x - variation| = mean time

|x - 2| = 15 ; |x + 2| = 15