Question

Sam went hiking throughout the summer and lost 5 pounds. Harry took up weight lifting and gained 3 pounds of muscle. Who had the greater magnitude of weight change?

a) Sam
b) Harry
c) They had the same weight change
d) Not enough information to determine

Answer 1

To determine who had the greater magnitude of weight change, compare the amount of weight lost by Sam and the amount of muscle gained by Harry. Sam lost 5 pounds, which means his weight change was -5 pounds. Harry gained 3 pounds of muscle, so his weight change was +3 pounds. Since -5 is greater than +3, Sam had the greater magnitude of weight change.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine who had the greater magnitude of weight change, we need to compare the amount of weight lost by Sam and the amount of muscle gained by Harry. Sam lost 5 pounds, which means his weight change was -5 pounds. Harry gained 3 pounds of muscle, so his weight change was +3 pounds. To compare these changes, we can consider that gaining weight is equivalent to a positive number and losing weight is equivalent to a negative number.

Since -5 is greater than +3, Sam had the greater magnitude of weight change. The answer is a) Sam.