Question

An office building has 8 stories above the ground level and 3 stories under the ground level. How many floors apart are the top and bottom floors of the building?

Answer 1

11 stories apart

Explanation:

We let the "ground" be considered at height = 0

Anything above, is POSITIVE direction

Anything below, is NEGATIVE direction

8 stories are ABOVE, so that would be considered

+8

3 stores are BELOW, so that would be considered

-3

THe difference in height between them is:

8 - (-3) = 8 + 3 = 11

So, that is 11 stories apart (top and bottom)