The absolute value is the positive magnitude of a particular number or variable and is indicated by two vertical lines: \(\left|-5\right| = 5\). In the case of a variable absolute value (\(\left|a\right| = 5\)) the value of a can be either positive or negative (a = -5 or a = 5).

The distributive property for division helps in solving expressions like \({b + c \over a}\). It specifies that the result of dividing a fraction with multiple terms in the numerator and one term in the denominator can be obtained by dividing each term individually and then totaling the results: \({b + c \over a} = {b \over a} + {c \over a}\). For example, \({a^3 + 6a^2 \over a^2} = {a^3 \over a^2} + {6a^2 \over a^2} = a + 6\).

A ratio of 3:1 means that there are 3 home fans for every one visiting fan. So, of every 4 fans, 3 are home fans and \( \frac{3}{4} \) of every fan in the stadium is a home fan:

38,000 fans x \( \frac{3}{4} \) = \( \frac{114000}{4} \) = 28,500 fans.

To raise a term with an exponent to another exponent, retain the base and multiply the exponents:

Calculate the number of vans needed by dividing the number of people that need transported by the capacity of one van:

vans = \( \frac{71}{9} \) = 7\(\frac{8}{9}\)

So, it will take 7 full vans and one partially full van to transport the entire team making a total of 8 vans.