Asalesperson starts at the office and travels to 5 customers along a road. the positive numbers stand for going east. the negative numbers stand for going west. which expression gives the total number of miles she travels to see these 5 customers?
a.|5+8+2 1/2+6 1/4+-3/4|
b.5-8+2 1/2-6 1/4-3/4
c.|5|+|8|+|2 1/2|+|6 1/4|+|3/4|
d.|(5)+(8)+(2 1/2)+(-6 1/4)+(-3/4)|

Simply look up the numbers in the pictures.

+5,  - 8 , + 2  1/2,  - 6  1/4,  - 3/4

Since we are not interested if it is East or West we ignore the + or - sign.

We only add up the sizes.

So we take the modulus of each number and add to the modulus of the next.

So the answer is:

|5 | + |-8 | + | 2  1/2| + |-6 1/4| + |-3/4|

Option C is the best answer. Though it ignored the minus sign.

The answer is why would a teacher ask that