All I know is an absolute value can't be a negative number. Any help? Thank you!
2007-01-31 10:29:40 · 9 answers · asked by Arnold 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Absolute value means how many places away from 0 a number is on the number line. For example:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-5 ..... -4 ..... -3 ..... -2 ..... -1 ..... 0 ..... 1 ..... 2 ..... 3 ..... 4 ...... 5
-4 and 4 both have an |absolute value| of 4 because they are both 4 places away from 0 on the number line. Similarly, the absolute value of 3 is 3 (it's three places away from 0 on the number line), and the absolute value of -5 is 5 (it's 5 places away from 0 on the number line).
That's the reasoning behind it, but essentially you keep a positive number as a positive number; if it's a negative integer, you simply ignore the negative sign to "make it positive," (a.k.a. find the absolute value).
I hope this helps! Good luck with everything!
2007-01-31 10:41:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Think of a ladder that goes both up and down from a dock. Down, it goes into the water and up it goes to a diving platform. You are standing on the platform and go down three steps.
If you ask the question, how many steps are you below the water? The answer is a positive number (3).
If you ask the question, how far are you above the water line? Then the answer is a negative number (-3).
Absolute value tells how far a number is from zero. Direction doesn't matter with absolute value. Whether you are six feet below the dock or six feet above it, you are still six feet from the dock.
2007-01-31 18:38:39 · answer #2 · answered by Steve A 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Absolute value can best be thought of as distance between two points. Your starting point is zero, and the absolute value would be the distance from zero (thus it is always positive).
For any number x, the following is true:
|x| = x if x is non-negative
|x| = -x if x is negative
Hope this helps!
2007-01-31 18:36:50 · answer #3 · answered by disposable_hero_too 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Negative is a direction, the number is the distance.
If you took 3 steps forward, you could think of that as a positive 3 steps. So, 3 steps back would be negative 3 steps. The distance traveled is the absolute value.
It doesn't matter if you took 3 forward or 3 back, you took 3 steps from where you started. That's why absolute value is only positive.
2007-01-31 18:36:38 · answer #4 · answered by brothergoosetg 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's pretty much it for absolute value. If you take the absolute value of -2 it's 2. If you take the absolute value of 2 it's also 2.
2007-01-31 18:34:42 · answer #5 · answered by slider 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
absolute value is the number of places a number is away from 0, like -5 is five places from zero, 4 is 4 places from zero.... get it?
2007-01-31 18:35:28 · answer #6 · answered by lizbiz707 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All you're looking for is distance from zero. This may be zero itself, but it cannot be negative. In absolute terms, 2 and -2 are the same thing: 2 away from zero.
2007-01-31 18:43:02 · answer #7 · answered by obelix 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its pretty much it.
absolute value takes only the postive part of a number
2007-01-31 18:36:12 · answer #8 · answered by wendywei85 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its means how much it takes to get to zero
2007-01-31 18:36:44 · answer #9 · answered by Mike 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋