Question

Word Problem

-Carlos uses a vertical number line to graph the points -4, -2, 3, and 4. He notices that -4 is closer to zero than -2. He is not sure about his diagram. Us what you know about a vertical number line to determine if Carlos made a mistake or not. Support your explanation with a number line diagram. Was he right or not?

Answer 1

Answer: Carlos is inncorrect.

Explanation:

You can know Carlos is incorrect because if you draw a number line, starting with zero in the middle, then , going up all the way to 5, and going down , all the way to negative 5, the numbers should be in this order, : -5, -4,-3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3,4,5 therefore if you did the problem correctly you will see that -4 is farther away from -2, making it impoosible to have Carlos correct.

Answer 2

His number line is incorrect, or he plotted the point incorrectly. We know that the numbers on a number line get bigger as we get farther and farther away from zero on both sides. So -4 being closer to zero than -2 is impossible on a perfect number line. Thus, he either needs to check his counting, or check if he plotted the right number.

5
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5