Find the value of the expression |2x−8| where x=−2.5; 0; 4; 5; 9.5.

The absolute value returns the "positive version" of a number. In other words, if is already positive, then . Otherwise, if is negative, then the absolute value changes its sign, so that it returns positive: .

So, in this case, we have to plug the required values for in the expression . Then, if the result is positive we're ok, otherwise we discard the negative sign.

We have:

question: how many people can she serve?

answer: she can serve 16.66666667 people. so she can only give 16 people a complete serving.

question: does she have enough ice cream for her guests?

answer: no. explanation: she only has enough for 16 people to have a full serving. however, she can give a 17th person a partial serving.