![\"\"](\"/images/stars/stars-09.gif\")
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Practically, absolute value is how far a number is to 0. In that sense, the absolute value of a number is always greater than or equal to zero, AKA, never negative.\r
\n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "You were right in saying that -6 + 2 = -4. I don't think that had anything to do with absolute value. HOWEVER, if the problem said |-6 + 2|, then your answer would have been 4. The absolute value signs (the \"straight parentheses\") actually do tell you to perform what's inside it first, so, calculate the -6 + 2 first. That gives you a -4. This -4 is inside the absolute value sign: |-4|. When you see that, it really means \"how far is -4 from 0\" and the answer is 4. It just ends up being a fact that you make the number positive when you take it outside the absolute value signs.\r
\n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "It gets quite tricky when they throw in variables and expressions in there. For example, you may encounter in the near future a problem like |x - 7| = 5. It looks just like x - 7 = 5, and x will be 12. Will |12 - 7| equal 5? Yes, indeed, because |12 - 7| = |5| = 5 (5 is 5 away from 0). HOWEVER, there is another answer besides x = 12. If we showed that |5| = 5, then isn't |-5| also equal to 5? So it makes sense to also set whatever's inside the absolute value equal to -5. SO, x - 7 = -5. With this one, x = 2. You think? Alright. Let's plug the 2 inside: |2 - 7| ?= 5 ---> |2 - 7| = |-5| = 5. True. So the absolute value will almost always make you have two solutions. In this case, x = 12 and x = 2. \n" ); document.write( "