Absolute Value

Accented Value means ...

... but how far a number is from aught:

absolute value 6 either way on number line

"6" is six away from nix,
and "−vi" is likewise 6 away from nada.

So the absolute value of 6 is 6,
and the absolute value of −6 is also 6

More Examples:

  • The absolute value of −ix is 9
  • The absolute value of three is iii
  • The absolute value of 0 is 0
  • The absolute value of −156 is 156

No Negatives!

And so in practice "absolute value" means to remove any negative sign in front of a number, and to think of all numbers as positive (or null).

Absolute Value Symbol

To evidence that nosotros want the absolute value of something, nosotros put "|" marks either side (they are called "bars" and are found on the right side of a keyboard), like these examples:

Sometimes absolute value is besides written equally "abs()", so abs(−1) = ane is the same as |−1| = ane

Effort It Yourself

images/accented.js

Subtract Either Way Around

And it doesn't matter which way around we practise a subtraction, the accented value will always be the same:

|8−iii| = 5 (8−3 = 5)

|iii−eight| = 5 (3−8 = −5, and |−five| = 5)

More Examples

Hither are some more than examples of how to handle absolute values:

|−3×6| = eighteen
Because −3×6 = −18, and |−18| = 18

−|v−ii| = −iii
Considering 5−2 = three and and then the outset minus gets the states −3

−|2−five| = −3
Because 2−five = −3 , |−iii| = 3, and and then the first minus gets us −three

−|−12| = −12
Because |−12| = 12 and so the first minus gets us −12

Learn more at Accented Value in Algebra

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