Question

Write a Python function that has two inputs a list of numbers and a single number) and returns the index of the element of the list that is closest to the given number in absolute value.

Answer 1

To find the index of the element in the given list that is closest to the given number, you can create a Python function using a for loop and the abs() function.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the index of the element in the given list that is closest to the given number, you can create a Python function using a for loop and the abs() function. Here's an example:

def find_closest_index(numbers, target):
min_diff = abs(numbers[0] - target)
index = 0
for i in range(1, len(numbers)):
diff = abs(numbers[i] - target)
if diff < min_diff:
min_diff = diff
index = i
return index
numbers_list = [10, 15, 20, 25, 30]
target_number = 22
closest_index = find_closest_index(numbers_list, target_number)
print('The index of the closest element:', closest_index)

In this example, the function find_closest_index() takes two parameters: numbers and target. It iterates through the numbers list using a for loop, calculates the absolute difference between each element and the target, and keeps track of the smallest difference and its corresponding index. Finally, it returns the index of the closest element to the target.