Alex, Beverly, and Cal live on the same straight road. Alex lives 13 miles from Beverly and Cal lives 2 miles from Beverly. How far does Alex live from Cal?
A) 15 miles
B) 11 miles
C) 11 miles or 15 miles
D) 13 miles or 2 miles
E) 24 miles or 17 miles

Question

Alex, Beverly, and Cal live on the same straight road. Alex lives 13 miles from Beverly and Cal lives 2 miles from Beverly. How far does Alex live from Cal? ​
A) 15 miles
B) 11 miles
C) 11 miles or 15 miles
D) 13 miles or 2 miles
E) 24 miles or 17 miles

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

We can use the transitive property of equality to find the distance between Alex and Cal.

Alex is 13 miles away from Beverly, and Cal is 2 miles away from Beverly. Therefore, Alex is either 11 miles away from Cal (13-2) or 15 miles away from Cal (13+2). Therefore, the answer could be either C) 11 miles or 15 miles.

Alex, Beverly, and Cal Live on the Same Straight Road