Absolute Value?

Question

Is the absolute value of a number always positive?

So what would " -6.4 - 3.1 "
"6.4" between the 2 little line things

Answer 1

if the "-" are supposed to be the verticle absolute signs: |-6.4|-3.1=6.4-3.1=3.3

yes, the absolute value of any number is always the positive value of that number...meaning |5|=5 |-5|=5

Answer 2

Yes. One way to think of the absolute value of a number is as its "positive version". |2| = 2; and |-2| = 2.

(Another answer has a MISTAKE: |6.4| is NOT -6.4. An absolute value is never negative.)

|0| = 0, so saying "nonnegative version" is more precise.

In your expression, if the first minus sign is outside the vertical lines:
-|6.4| - 3.1
then |6.4| is 6.4, and -|6.4| - 3.1 = -6.4 - 3.1 = -9.5.

But if the minus sign is INSIDE the lines:
|-6.4| - 3.1
then |-6.4| is 6.4, and |-6.4| - 3.1 = 6.4 - 3.1 = 3.3.

Answer 3

Well it depends on the question. | -6.4 - 3.1 | is | -9.5 | than you take the absolute value of the answer and will become 9.5.
But if the question is - | 6.4 - 3.1| than the answer will be - |-9.5| and the absolute value of that is 9.5, but there's a negative sign outside the absolute value, so this will make it -9.5 as the answer.

Answer 4

Yes; the absolute value of a number is its distance from zero on a number line. Distance cannot be negative (unless we're talking about direction, which is a different situation).

Answer 5

no it is just the exact opposite

exp: [ 6.4 ] absolute value is -6.4
exp: [ -3.1] absolute value is 3.1

Answer 6

Others have said that absolute value is always positive. Trust a math teacher. That's FALSE. The correct way of stating it is that absolute value is never negative. It can, however, be zero--which is neither positive nor negative.

Answer 7

Yes because it represents a distance from zero on the number line and distance is always a positive number.

Answer 8

What is the absolute value of -22?