Difference of three times a number and 4 is -19

Question

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Answer 1

the number is negative 5

Let x=the number 3x is 3 times the number. "difference" means subtract.

3x-4=-19 the difference between 3 times the number and 4 is negative 19

3x=-15 add 4 to both sides

x=-5 divide both sides by 3

check the answer 3(-5)-4=-19 -15-4=-19

Unless you possibly meant the difference between the two terms as 4-3x, but it doesn't seem stated that way.

then 4-3x=-19

-4+3x=19

3x=23

x=23/3=7 2/3

4-3(23/3) = 4-23=-19

the difference of two numbers could be interpreted as the absolute value of subtracting either one from the other.

then the difference is always positive, and there is no solution, as -19 is negative.

Distance is how far apart two points are. To calculate that, you subtract one from the other.

Usually distance is calculated as the absolute value of the difference between 2 positions, so it's always positive, unless a negative sign indicates the opposite direction. Even then if you had to sum the total travel distance to and from another point, you'd want the absolute value of the negative half, to sum them.