Question

If the center thickness of a Tootsie Roll Pop varies more than 0.2 cm from the target thickness of 7.5 cm, the pop must be thrown out. Write and solve an absolute value equation to find the extreme acceptable size for the center thickness of a Tootsie Roll

Answer 1

The extreme acceptable sizes for the center thickness of a Tootsie Roll are

x = 7.7 cm and x = 7.3 cm

Explanation:

We are given the target thickness as 7.5 cm and the maximum variation as ±0.2

Therefore, the absolute value for the thickness of Tootsie Roll Pop is given for a thickness, x as follows;

`\left |x - 7.5 \right | = 0.2`

Therefore,

x - 7.5 = 0.2 or x - 7.5 = -0.2

x = 7.5 + 0.2 = 7.7 x = 7.5 + (-0.2) = 7.5 - 0.2

x = 7.7 cm x = 7.3 cm

Therefore, the extreme acceptable sizes for the center thickness of a Tootsie Roll are

x = 7.7 cm and x = 7.3 cm