Question

Explain how to find the distance between two integers using the difference.

Answer 1

To find the distance between two integers using the difference, you can follow these steps:

1. **Identify the two integers**: Let’s say you have two integers, \( a \) and \( b \).

2. **Calculate the difference**: Subtract one integer from the other. The formula for the difference is:
\[
\text{Difference} = a - b
\]

3. **Take the absolute value**: Since distance is always a non-negative value, you need to take the absolute value of the difference. This is done using the absolute value function:
\[
\text{Distance} = |a - b|
\]

4. **Interpret the result**: The result represents the distance between the two integers on the number line.

### Example
Let’s find the distance between the integers 5 and 3:

1. Identify the integers: \( a = 5 \), \( b = 3 \).
2. Calculate the difference: \( 5 - 3 = 2 \).
3. Take the absolute value: \( |2| = 2 \).
4. The distance between 5 and 3 is 2.

Now let’s consider another example with negative integers:

Find the distance between -4 and 2:

1. Identify the integers: \( a = -4 \), \( b = 2 \).
2. Calculate the difference: \(-4 - 2 = -6\).
3. Take the absolute value: \(|-6| = 6\).
4. The distance between -4 and 2 is 6.

This method can be applied to any pair of integers to find the distance between them.