Here, you are looking at two numbers, x and y, such that

, or, if you say that x is the larger of the two, simply

. You are looking to minimize the value for

. The smallest possible numbers are

. You might initially be tempted to think that you should choose an infinitely negative number and a number 18 more than it; however, the product of two negative numbers is positive, so this would become an infinitely large number. Then, it might be tempting to say 18 and 0, because their product, after all, is zero. But it is possible to get a negative product with a positive and a negative number. The least product is when

, and this will apply for any difference you choose, not just 18.
In sum, it's 9 and –9.
If the 10 books are all different, we have:
• 10 ways of selecting the first book,
,
• 9 ways of selecting the second book,
,
• 8 ways of selecting the third book,
,
• 7 ways of selecting the fourth book.
The total number of ways to arrange 4 of the 10 books is:

Answer
There are 5040 ways of arranging the books.
Hello from MrBillDoesMath!
Answer:
x = 80/3 ( 26 2/3)
y = 11
Discussion:
Step 1:
-2 + y = 9 => add 2 to both sides
2 + -2 + y = 9 +2 =>
y = 11
Step 2:
Substitute y = 11 (from Step 1) into
3x - 7y = 3 =>
3x - 7(11) = 3 => y = 11 from Step 1
3x - 77 = 3 => add 77 to both sides
3x - 77 + 77 = 3 + 77 =>
3x = 80 =>
x = 80/3
Thank you,
MrB
Answer:
Mac is 19 years old, Joe is 11 years old
Step-by-step explanation:
2J - 3 = M
J + M = 30
M = 30 - J
2J - 3 = 30 - J
3J = 33
J = 11
M = 30 - 11
M = 19