The low temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) for one week in Minneapolis, MN were Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun –6 –4 –5 2 0 3 –7
a. Arrange the temperatures in order from coldest to warmest. b. On a day in January, the low temperature in Minneapolis, MN was 14° below zero (in degrees Fahrenheit) and the low temperature in Albany, NY was 5° below zero (in degrees Fahrenheit). When asked which city was colder, Jacob wrote: Albany was colder, because –5 < –14. Is Jacob correct? Explain your answer. c. On February 2, 1996, Minnesota had a record low temperature of –60°F. More than a decade earlier, Colorado recorded a low temperature of –61°F. Which state was colder on its coldest day in history? Write an inequality to support your answer.
Part A : You want to arrange the larger negative numbers to the left, so the number farthest left would be -7, followed by -6, -5, -4, and then 0. Then 2 is next, followed by 3. So the answer would be : -7, -6, -5, -4, 0, 2, 3. Part B : So on that day on January, it's saying the Minnesota's degree was -14 degrees Fahrenheit and New York was -5. And he's saying that New York is colder. This is incorrect because people often make this mistake when working with negative numbers. Think of the numbers on a number line, on the negative side, the farther you are away from zero, the colder it will be. The closer you are to zero on the negative side, the less colder it'll be. On the positive side, the farther you are away from zero, the hotter it will be. The closer you are to zero on the positive side, the more warmer, this is why he is incorrect. Part C : It would be -61 degrees Fahrenheit, because as I mentioned earlier, the farther you are away from zero on the negative side, the colder it'll be.
