SOLUTION: Good evening Before I ask my question I would like to know what |-x| or |x| means in math. I need to know this before I could answer any question with that symbol in it. Mow her

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Question 999394: Good evening
Before I ask my question I would like to know what |-x| or |x| means in math. I need to know this before I could answer any question with that symbol in it.
Mow here is my real question:
solve
|x - 4| = 2
I know this has nothing to do with math but I would like to know how to ask a question directly from this site.
I normally would have to go to google first and type in "how to ask a question on algebra.com" then click on ask a question on algebra.com but I would like to be able to this directly from the site. Thank you for your help.
Answer by Fombitz(32388) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The two brackets stand for the absolute value function.
It's a function that always returns a positive number or zero, never a negative number.
The definition is, if the argument is positive, the value of the abs. value is the value of the argument.
If the argument is negative, the value of the abs. value is (-1) multiplied by the argument.
So example,
abs%285%29=5
abs%28-18%29=-%28-18%29=18
Pretty straightforward.
.
.
.
abs%28x-4%29=2
Since you don't know the value of the argument, you basically solve both problems.
Assuming it's positive,
x-4=2
x=6
.
.
Assuming it's negative,
-%28x-4%29=2
x-4=-2
x=2
So those are the two solutions, x=2 and x=6