what is the positive difference in the sums of the letters in the words MATH and COUNTS, if each letter is assigned a value as follows: A=1, B=-2, C=3, D=-4, ..., Y=25, Z=-26?
MATH = 13 + 1 - 20 - 8 = - 14.
COUNTS=3 + 15 + 21 - 14 + 15 - 14 = 5.
COUNTS - MATH=5 - (-14) = 5 + 14 = 19.
CORRECTION:
COUNTS=3 + 15 + 21 - 14 + 15 - 14 = 26.
COUNTS - MATH=26 - (-14) = 26 + 14=40.
To find the positive difference in the sums of the letters in the words MATH and COUNTS, we need to assign a value to each letter based on the given sequence. Once we have the values for each letter, we can calculate the sums and find the positive difference between them.
Let's assign values to each letter:
M = 13
A = 1
T = 20
H = 8
Using the same sequence, we assign values to the letters in the word COUNTS:
C = 3
O = 15
U = 21
N = 14
T = 20
S = 19
Now, let's calculate the sums for each word:
For the word MATH: 13 + 1 + 20 + 8 = 42
For the word COUNTS: 3 + 15 + 21 + 14 + 20 + 19 = 92
Finally, we find the positive difference between the two sums:
92 - 42 = 50
Therefore, the positive difference in the sums of the letters in the words MATH and COUNTS is 50.