SOLUTION: let a and b be two real numbers with a does not equal b. write an expression that will give the larger of the two numbers

Algebra.Com
Question 215112: let a and b be two real numbers with a does not equal b. write an expression that will give the larger of the two numbers
Answer by Edwin McCravy(20055)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
let a and b be two real numbers with a does not equal b. write an expression that will give the larger of the two numbers

 if and only if  if and only if 

 if and only if  if and only if 

So we let 

So we want a function  such that
 and 

So we find the linear equation  that passes through
the points  and 












   
So we replace  by    



So the right side of this equation will always give
the larger of a and b:



Edwin
RELATED QUESTIONS

Let a and b be real numbers such that a does not equal zero. Find the solutions of ax^2 + (answered by Earlsdon)
which of the following best describes imaginary numbers? a. They are not numbers, but... (answered by Alan3354)
Let min and max be the smallest and largest numbers among a large set of n distinct... (answered by ikleyn)
Find two numbers a and b such that the sum, product, and quotient of the two numbers are... (answered by kiru_khandelwal)
two real numbers that have a sum of 5 and the same two numbers that multipled equal... (answered by mananth)
Let symbol ~ be defined so that a~b equals the smaller of a-b and b-a. For all real... (answered by jim_thompson5910)
Let symbol ~ be defined so that a~b equals the smaller of a-b and b-a. For all real... (answered by jim_thompson5910)
Which of the following statements is false? A. Any two numbers, a and b, have a sum,... (answered by Alan3354)
The sum of two numbers is 27. Half the smaller number plus twice the larger number is 36. (answered by stanbon)