Question

Use absolute value to express the distance between −12 and −15 on the number line

Answer 1

-----------------(-15)----------(-12)-----------------------------0-----------------------------
C B A

BC = |AC| - |BA|
BC = |-15| - |-12|. Remember that |- X| = X

BC = 15 - 12 = 3

Answer 2

The distance between -12 and -15 is 3.

Explanation:

The absolute value is utilized to calculate distance. The definition of absolute does not include the sign, and the symbol used to indicate absolute values is |X|, where X mens the value or the formula. For example, the absolute value of 5 is 5 (|5|=5) and the absolute value of -5 is also 5 (|-5|=5); in this case it refers to the distance from 0.

The formula for this exercise is Distance = |-12 – (-15)|

Distance = |-12 +15|

Distance = |3|

Distance = 3

Using absolute value, you can calculate the distance also inverting the values, for example:

Distance = |-15 – (-12)|

Distance = |-15 +12|

Distance = |-3|

Distance = 3