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Ch. 1 - Equations and Inequalities
Blitzer - College Algebra 8th Edition
Blitzer8th EditionCollege AlgebraISBN: 9780136970514Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 2, Problem 98

Use interval notation to represent all values of x satisfying the given conditions. y = 2x - 11 + 3(x + 2) and y is at most 0

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1
Step 1: Start by simplifying the given equation y = 2x - 11 + 3(x + 2). Combine like terms to simplify the expression for y. Distribute the 3 across (x + 2) to get y = 2x - 11 + 3x + 6.
Step 2: Combine the terms involving x and the constants. This results in y = (2x + 3x) + (-11 + 6), which simplifies to y = 5x - 5.
Step 3: The problem states that y is at most 0, which means y ≤ 0. Substitute the simplified expression for y into the inequality: 5x - 5 ≤ 0.
Step 4: Solve the inequality 5x - 5 ≤ 0. First, isolate the term involving x by adding 5 to both sides: 5x ≤ 5.
Step 5: Divide both sides of the inequality by 5 to solve for x: x ≤ 1. Represent this solution in interval notation as (-∞, 1].

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Linear Equations

A linear equation is an algebraic expression that represents a straight line when graphed. It typically takes the form y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept. In this question, the equation y = 2x - 11 + 3(x + 2) must be simplified to identify the values of x that satisfy the condition y ≤ 0.
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Inequalities

An inequality is a mathematical statement that compares two expressions, indicating that one is less than, greater than, or equal to the other. In this case, we are interested in the inequality y ≤ 0, which means we need to find the range of x values for which the linear expression results in a value of y that is less than or equal to zero.
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Interval Notation

Interval notation is a way of representing a range of values on the number line. It uses brackets and parentheses to indicate whether endpoints are included or excluded. For example, [a, b] includes both a and b, while (a, b) excludes them. In this problem, once the values of x that satisfy the inequality are determined, they will be expressed in interval notation to clearly communicate the solution set.
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