The distance between a and b on the real line is d(a, b) = ___.
A real line is a number line containing real numbers.
Answer: The distance between a and b on the real line is d(a, b) = |b - a|.
Let us find the formula to find the distance between a and b on the real line.
Explanation:
The distance between a and b on the real line is given by the formula |b - a|.
Let -5 and -1 be two points on the number line.
We can clearly see from the number line that the distance between -5 and -1 is 4 units.
Let us confirm this using the formula.
Substitute -1 for a and -5 for b in the formula.
Distance between -5 and -1 = |-5 - (-1)| = |- 5 + 1| = 4