Question

Jaime was working on his math homework with his friend. He needed to solve the expression -9.5-(-8)-6.5 How can Jaimie rewrite the expression AND how would he represent the expression as a single rational number?

A) −9.5+8−6.5=−7
B) −9.5−8−6.5=−24
C) −9.5+8+6.5=5
D) −9.5−8+6.5=−11

Answer 1

Jaime can rewrite the expression -9.5 - (-8) - 6.5 as -9.5 + 8 - 6.5 by changing the subtraction of a negative to addition. Solving this step by step, Jaime finds that the correct answer is A) -9.5 + 8 - 6.5 = -7.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve the expression -9.5 - (-8) - 6.5, Jaime can rewrite the expression by changing the subtraction of a negative number to the addition of a positive number. This change is based on the rule that subtracting a negative number is the same as adding its positive counterpart. So the expression becomes -9.5 + 8 - 6.5. Now, applying the rule that adding two numbers with the same sign keeps that sign, Jaime can combine the like terms.

Here's how Jaime can solve it step-by-step:

1. Identify that subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive: -9.5 - (-8) becomes -9.5 + 8.
2. Combine the terms with the same sign: 8 - 6.5 equals 1.5.
3. Add -9.5 and 1.5 together. Because they have different signs, subtract the smaller absolute value from the larger one, and keep the sign of the larger absolute value number: -9.5 + 1.5 = -8.

Therefore, the correct answer is A) -9.5 + 8 - 6.5 = -7, which is the single rational number that represents the expression.