From the course: Learning Algebra: Solving Equations

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Introduction to absolute value equations

Introduction to absolute value equations

From the course: Learning Algebra: Solving Equations

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Introduction to absolute value equations

- Our last set of equations in this chapter will be absolute value equations. So, lets take a moment and just talk about absolute value. The absolute value is actually the distance that a number is away from zero on the number line. Absolute value is indicated by these two bars. So, this is read the absolute value of five and that means how far is five or many units is five away from zero on the number line. Well, five is five units away from zero. So, the absolute value of five is five. Lets take a look at negative five. This says what is the absolute value of negative five? So, we have to ask ourselves how many units away from zero is negative five on the number line? Negative five is also five units away from zero. So, the absolute value of negative five is also five. The most important thing to remember is that absolute value is always positive. Since absolute value is a distance away from zero, distance is always a positive number. So, whenever you're finding the absolute value…

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