The temperature of an enclosure for a pet snake should be about 27°C, give or take 3°C. (show your work)

a) What absolute value expression can be used to represent this situation?
b) Use the expression to determine the temperature range the enclosure should have.

http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1433640614

I need help for part b though.

Evidently you do not understand the concept of a range.

Your temperature is somewhere in 27±3

24 = 27-3 and 30 is 27+3

So, clearly the range is 24-30

Thanks so much for your help.

a) To represent the given situation where the temperature of the enclosure for a pet snake should be about 27°C, give or take 3°C, we can use an absolute value expression.

An absolute value expression represents the distance of a number from zero on a number line without considering its sign. In this case, we want to find the distance between the desired temperature (27°C) and the allowed temperature range (±3°C).

Let's consider the upper limit first. To find the absolute value expression for the upper limit, we subtract the given range (3°C) from the desired temperature (27°C) and take the absolute value:

Upper Limit = |27 - 3|

Now, let's consider the lower limit. To find the absolute value expression for the lower limit, we add the given range (3°C) to the desired temperature (27°C) and take the absolute value:

Lower Limit = |27 + 3|

Therefore, the absolute value expression for this situation is:

|T - 27|

Where T represents the actual temperature.

b) To determine the temperature range the enclosure should have, we can calculate the difference between the upper limit and the lower limit:

Temperature Range = Upper Limit - Lower Limit

Temperature Range = (|27 - 3|) - (|27 + 3|)

Simplifying this expression further,

Temperature Range = (|24|) - (|30|)

Temperature Range = 24 - 30

Temperature Range = -6

Hence, the temperature range the enclosure should have is -6°C, i.e., the enclosure should maintain a temperature range from 21°C to 33°C to meet the given criteria.