Provide an appropriate response.Sheila notes that if a = 20 and b = 20, then a - b = b - a = 0. She concludes that for any real numbers a and b, a - b = b - a . Do you agree with her reasoning? If not, why not?
What will be an ideal response?
a - b is not equal to b - a for any a and b. In fact a - b is equal to b - a only if a = b . Sheila has stated that a - b = b - a for all real numbers a and b. To disprove this statement, it is sufficient to find one counterexample.
One possible counterexample is a = 2, b = 6. Then a - b = -4, but b - a = 4.
You might also like to view...
Find the standard deviation s for the given data. Round your answer to one more decimal place than the original data.The test scores of 40 students are summarized in the frequency distribution below. Find the standard deviation. 
A. 15 B. 14.3 C. 13.5 D. 15.8
Solve the equation.-6x - 40 = 2x - 8
A. {4} B. {-5} C. {5} D. {-4}
Graph the equation.(y - 2)2 = -8(x - 1)
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
Solve.Aviva has a total of 61 coins in a jar, all of which are either dimes or nickels. The total value of the coins is $4.60. If n represents the number of nickels Aviva has, solve the following equation to find the number of nickels in the jar.
A. 30 nickels B. 35 nickels C. 31 nickels D. 32 nickels