Question

An ant starts at -2 on the number line and travels east (positive direction) for 4 units then turns around and heads west (negative direction) for five units. It then travels east again for six units and to the west again for seven units. How far, total, does the ant travel?

Answer 1

1. Start position: -2
2. East 4 units
3. West 5 units
4. East 6 units
5. West 7 units

(-2)  +  (4)  +  (-5)  +  (6)  +  (-7)  =  -4

Total distance traveled:  (Start position)-(End position) = (-2)-(-4) = 2

The ant travels a total of 2 units from its starting position. But traveled 22 units overall.

Hoped this helped!