What does a decimal between two fractions mean

If jm equals 5x -8 and lm equals 2x -6 which expression represents jl

Ms. sutton recorded the word counts and scores of the top ten essays in a timed writing contest. the table shows her data. how does the word count of an essay relate to its score in the contest? word count tends to decrease as the score decreases. word count tends to increase as the score decreases. word count tends to remain constant as the score decreases. word count has no apparent relationship to the score of the essay.

Find the gradient of f(x,y,z)equals=left parenthesis x squared plus y squared plus z squared right parenthesis superscript negative 1 divided by 2 baseline plus ln left parenthesis x right parenthesis x2+y2+z2−1/2+ln(xyz) at the point left parenthesis negative 2 comma 1 comma negative 2 right parenthesis(−2,1,−2).