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CAT 2017 Slot 2 · Quant · Inequalities and Modulus · medium

How many integers x satisfy |x − 4| + |x + 3| ≤ 10?

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How many integers x satisfy |x − 4| + |x + 3| ≤ 10?
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Answer: 10

|x − 4| + |x + 3| is the sum of the distances of x from 4 and from −3.

For −3 ≤ x ≤ 4 the sum is constant = 7 ≤ 10, so all of these 8 integers work.
For x > 4: (x − 4) + (x + 3) = 2x − 1 ≤ 10 ⇒ x ≤ 5.5 ⇒ x ≤ 5.
For x < −3: (4 − x) + (−3 − x) = 1 − 2x ≤ 10 ⇒ x ≥ −4.5 ⇒ x ≥ −4.

So −4 ≤ x ≤ 5, which contains 10 integers.
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Original question written in the CAT 2017 Slot 2 pattern and checked twice for the correct answer. Not an official question paper. How we write and check questions · Corrections policy · Report a mistake