Question

Football team needs to gain 4 yards to score. What rational number represents this (think integer sign)?

Answer 1

To represent the need to gain 4 yards for the football team to score as a rational number, you can simply use the integer 4.

If we think about it in terms of the required gain, this is a positive integer, so the rational number representing this situation would be \(4\).

However, if you're considering representing it in terms of an equation (like if they start at the 0-yard line, needing to gain 4 yards), you could also represent it as \( +4 \). In general, the rational number that represents needing to gain 4 yards to score would be \( 4 \) or \( +4 \).