Answer:
Explanation:
The distance between two numbers on the real number line is simply the absolute value of their difference. So, to find the distance between the numbers a = 12 and b = 3, we calculate:
distance = |a - b| = |12 - 3| = |9| = 9
Therefore, the distance between the numbers a = 12 and b = 3 on the real number line is 9 units.