Question

Which of the following expressions represents the distance between a and b on a number line?

Choose all answers that apply:
A
a-bi
B
16 - a
None of the above

Answer 1

A and B

Explanation:

The distance between any two points with coordinates a and b respective, can be gotten by finding the absolute value of the difference between the coordinates of the two points on the numberline.

For example, where a and b are coordinates of the two points in the numberline, the expression of their distance can be written in two ways:

|a - b| or |b - a|.

Both expressions will give us the same value.

For example, if a = -6, and b = 7, the distance between -6 and 7 in a numberline can be written as:

|-6 - 7| = |-13| = 13

Or

|7 -(-6)| = |7 + 6| = 13