Question

Alex and Wesley are solving $\left|x+5\right|=-3$. Is either of them correct? Explain your reasoning

Short answer

Wesley is correct.

Step-by-step solution

Step-1. Write down the given statement.

The given expression is:

$\left|x+5\right|=-3$

Step-2. Evaluate the given for both Alex and Wesley.

In the given expression, $\left|x+5\right|=-3$, the distance between x and 5 is negative, i.e. -3, which is not possible as distance can never be negative.

Hence, the solution set will be an empty set for the given expression.

Therefore, Wesley is correct.

Step-3. Conclusion from the statement.

Wesley is correct from the given statement.