Question

Refer to a number line that is not pictured here. Point$A$has coordinate 2 and point$B$has coordinate 5.

What is the length of $\overline{AB}$?

Short answer

The required length is 3.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Make the number line.

Make a number line that consists of two points $A$ and $B$ according to the provided information and a number 0 between $A$and $B$.

Step 2. Form the equation required to calculate the length.

The length of given segment $\overline{AB}$ can be calculated by subtraction of the value of$A$ from $B$so make an equation according to this.

$\overline{AB}=B-A$

Step 3. Calculate the required length.

Substitute the given values of $A$ and $B$ into the obtained equation and calculate the required length.

$$\begin{gathered} \overline{AB}=5-2 \\ =3 \end{gathered}$$