Final answer:
To find the value of 'a', equate 1/3 f(a) to -2, which gives f(a) = -6. Substituting a into the function f(a) = a - 6 and solving for 'a' results in a = 0.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asked to find the value of 'a' given that f(x) = x - 6 and 1/3 f(a) = -2. To solve for 'a', first, we need to understand that 1/3 f(a) means we should take one-third of the function value at 'a'.
Set up the equation from the given information:
- 1/3 f(a) = -2 which implies f(a) = -6 because multiplying both sides of the equation by 3 cancels out the factor of 1/3.
- Now substitute 'a' into the function, yielding f(a) = a - 6.
- Setting a - 6 equal to -6 and solving for 'a' gives us a = 0.