The distance between two points on a number line can be determined by taking the absolute value of the difference between their coordinates. If point A is located at coordinate a and point B is at coordinate b, the formula to find the distance d between them is:
d = |a – b|
For example, if point A is at 3 and point B is at 7, the distance would be:
d = |3 – 7| = | -4 | = 4
This tells us that the distance between points A and B is 4 units. This method works regardless of whether the points are positive or negative on the number line, ensuring that we always get a non-negative distance value.