Question

On the number line above, the tick marks are equally spaced and their coordinates are shown. Of these coordinates, which has the smallest positive value?

1) -8
2) a
3) b
4) c
5) d
6) e
7) 10

Answer 1

The number with the smallest positive value on the number line among the given options is option 7, which is 10, since -8 is negative and the values corresponding to a, b, c, d, and e are unspecified.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking which number on the number line has the smallest positive value. In mathematics, numbers on the number line increase in value as you move to the right, and decrease as you move to the left. Based on the way the number line works, positive numbers are always to the right of the origin or zero.

Of the options provided, -8 is negative, so it's not a positive value. Next, we have the letters a, b, c, d, and e. Since these letters are not associated with specific values in the question, we cannot evaluate them. Hence, we ignore them and compare the remaining known positive values, which are 10 and any other positive number that might exist between the unknowns and 10 on the number line.

The underlying principle is that out of all positive numbers on a number line, the number closest to zero without being zero itself will have the smallest positive value. Since 10 is the only specified positive number given in the options list, it is the smallest known positive value on this number line. Therefore, option 7, which is 10, has the smallest positive value on the number line among the given options, assuming there is no other specified positive value between zero and 10.