help on number line homwork?

Question

there is a number line with some letters that have value for a number so from left to right here are the letters and numbers.. C -1 D 0 B 1 A the instructions are: The numbers below have been placed on the number line before you. Insert the symbol <, >, or = to make it true. here is the questions..... AB________0

AC_________0 AD____________0 AB___________DC BD____________AC

Answer 1

Look at this as being similar to a secret code that you have to figure out.
C D B A
__________
-1 0 1 2

In the first question you have AB___0. A = 2 and B = 1. In algebra, two letter together means that they are added unless otherwise indicated. So...what you have is 3____0. Then you can figure out if that is < or > or =. With AC____0, that means A=2 and C= -1. 2 + -1 = 1 so that one is 1___0. With AB____DC, A=2 and B=1 and D=0 and C+-1. Look at the problem as being 2+1____0+-1 or 3____-1.

I won't give you the answer because I think you can figure it out from here.

Answer 2

I would say that you just have to replace the letters with their number substiutions so each letter combination would be multiplied then compare

So, AB (1(2)) is greater than 0 because 1 x 2 =2)

AB>0
AC >0
AD<0
AB>DC
BD>AC

I am not 100% sure but it is worth exploring...Good luck

Answer 3

No one on myspace could answer this - thanks for the 2 pts.