Finding Distance Between Points A and K on a Number Line with Integer Scale

Question

What is the distance between A and K?

AAA-5-5-5BBB-4-4-4CCC-3-3-3DDD-2-2-2EEE-1-1-1FFF000GGG111HHH222III333JJJ444

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

One might think that because there are numbers on the axis that go into the negative domain, that the result must also negative.

However it is important to keep in mind that here we are asking about distance.

Distance can never be negative.

Even if we move towards or from the domain of negativity, distance is an existing value (absolute value).

We can think of it as if we were counting the number of steps, and it doesn't matter if we start from five or minus five, both are 5 steps away from zero.

Answer

10