Exercise 23 Page 32

Before we can solve this equation, we need to isolate the absolute value expression using the Properties of Equality.

3 = - 2 ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ \frac{1}{4} s - 5 ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ + 3

$LHS - 3 = RHS - 3$

0 = - 2 ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ \frac{1}{4} s - 5 ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣

$LHS / (- 2) = RHS / (- 2)$

0 = ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ \frac{1}{4} s - 5 ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣

Rearrange equation

∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ \frac{1}{4} s - 5 ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ = 0

An absolute value measures an expression's distance from a midpoint on a number line.