SOLUTION: Find the distance between a and -23 on the real number line

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Question 830812: Find the distance between a and -23 on the real number line
Found 2 solutions by JulietG, Fombitz:
Answer by JulietG(1812) (Show Source):
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You'll need to know where a is in order to solve this problem.
Think of a number line like mileage markers on a trail.
If you start at marker -23, how far do you have to go to marker 0? 23
What about if you're going the other direction? You start at marker -23 and want to go to marker -48. How many markers between them? 25
If you're going from marker -23 to marker +48, you first have to pass zero (which would be 23 markers) and then continue 48 more markers to marker 48. So it would be 23+48=71.
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This requires looking at the number line in a different way than simple addition or subtraction. The value given (-23) marks a point on the line.

Answer by Fombitz(32388) (Show Source):
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The distance between two points is the absolute value of the difference between the numbers.