Please help i'm stuck :,) Jacob and Sophia are in a running club and record how long it takes them to run a 5-kilometer race. Jacob's time was 4 minutes under the average time of the running club. The difference between Jacob's time and Sophia's time is 10 minutes. The possible times of Sophia's run are minutes below the average or minutes above the average.

14 minutes below the average

6 minutes above the average

Let A = average running time

Jacob's time was 4 minutes under the average, so his time is A-4 minutes. Whatever A is, subtract off 4, and you'll get Jacob's time.

Sophia and Jacob have a difference of 10 minutes. If J = Jacob's time and S = sophia's time, then S-J = 10 or J-S = 10 depending on who has the larger time.

We can use absolute value to ensure that whatever we pick (S-J or J-S) will be positive. So |S-J| = 10. Recall that absolute value represents distance on a number line. Negative distance isn't possible.

Let's plug in J = A-4 and solve for S

|S-J| = 10

|S - ( J )| = 10

|S - (A-4)|

|S-A+4| = 10

S-A+4 = 10  or  S-A+4 = -10

S-A = 10-4  or  S-A = -10-4

S-A = 6  or  S-A = -14

S = A+6 or S = A-14

The equation S = A+6 shows Sophia is 6 minutes above the average

The equation S = A-14 shows Sophia is 14 minutes below the average

Let's pick some number for A that is over 14 minutes. Let's say the average running time is A = 20 minutes.

If A = 20, then Jacob's time is J = A-4 = 20-4 = 16

If the average running time is 20 minutes, then Jacob ran for 16 minutes.

If we subtract 10 from this, then J-10 = 16-10 = 6 is one possible time for Sophia. Notice how this is 14 minutes below the average (20-14 = 6)

If we add 10 to Jacob's time, then J+10 = 16+10 = 26, which is 6 minutes overage the average (20+6 = 26)

This is one numeric example, but you could use any value of A that you want as long as it's larger than 14. The reason A has to be larger than 14 is to ensure that Sophia's lower time value (A-14) is not negative. Having a time of zero is not feasible either.

why can't you?

step-by-step explanation: