How many integer values of x satisfy this equation ?
|x−6| + |x−1| ≤ 13
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We will consider different cases in which the expressions inside the absolute value signs will be negative or positive.
Case 1: x ≤ 1
Both ( x − 1 ) and ( x − 6 ) will be negative/zero. The absolute values will negate these expressions to make them positive. We end up with the inequality:
− x + 6 − x + 1 ≤ 1 3
Solving this inequality yields: x ≥ − 3 . The intersection of x ≤ 1 and x ≥ − 3 is:
− 3 ≤ x ≤ 1
Case 2: 1 < x ≤ 6
( x − 1 ) will be positive while ( x − 6 ) will be negative/zero. The absolute value sign will do nothing to ( x − 1 ) and the absolute value sign will negate ( x − 6 ) in order to make it positive. We end up with the inequality:
− x + 6 + x − 1 ≤ 1 3
Solving this yields 5 ≤ 1 3 , which is true regardless of the value of x . Therefore, the inequality is true for the entire interval of this case.
Case 3: x > 6
Both ( x − 1 ) and ( x − 6 ) will be positive/zero. The absolute value signs will do nothing to either expression. We end up with the inequality:
x − 6 + x − 1 ≤ 1 3
Solving this yields x ≤ 1 0 . The intersection of x > 6 and x ≤ 1 0 is 6 < x ≤ 1 0
The union of the solutions of all three cases is: − 3 ≤ x ≤ 1 0 , and there are 1 4 integers in this interval.