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Algebra Difficulty 3.1 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

If a=3|a|=3, b=2|b|=2, and a+b>0a+b \gt 0, then the value of bab-a is ______.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Given that a=3|a|=3 and b=2|b|=2, we can deduce the possible values of aa and bb as follows:

- Since a=3|a|=3, this means a=±3a=\pm 3.
- Similarly, b=2|b|=2 implies b=±2b=\pm 2.

Given the condition a+b>0a+b > 0, we need to consider the possible combinations of aa and bb that satisfy this inequality:

1. If a=3a=3 and b=2b=2, then a+b=3+2=5a+b=3+2=5, which is greater than 00.
2. If a=3a=3 and b=2b=-2, then a+b=32=1a+b=3-2=1, which is also greater than 00.
3. The combinations where a=3a=-3 would not satisfy a+b>0a+b > 0 given the possible values of bb.

Therefore, the valid combinations under the given conditions are a=3,b=2a=3, b=2 and a=3,b=2a=3, b=-2.

For these combinations, we calculate bab-a as follows:

1. If a=3a=3 and b=2b=2, then ba=23=1b-a=2-3=-1.
2. If a=3a=3 and b=2b=-2, then ba=23=5b-a=-2-3=-5.

Hence, the possible values for bab-a are 1-1 or 5-5, which can be encapsulated as 1 or 5\boxed{-1 \text{ or } -5}.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.