Re: |x - 5|
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22 Mar 2018, 16:43
Answer: C
a < 0 < 5 < b < x < 10
| x - 5| - |a - b|
|b - a| - |5 - x|
Comparing the two equations is better than evaluating their value, because they seem similar.
A: x is something between 5 and 10 so x -5 is positive, so |x-5| equals x-5
a is negative, b is positive, (a - b) is negative, so |a - b| = -(a - b)
| x - 5| - |a - b| = x - 5 - a + b
B: x is positive and more than 5, 5-x is negative, so |5-x| equals -(5-x)
b is positive and a is negative, (b-a) is positive, so |b-a| equals b-a
|b - a| - |5 - x| = b - a - 5 + x
They are both equal!