Absolute values

What are absolute values?


The absolute value of a number is the numerical value of it, ignoring whether the number is positive or negative.

Absolute values are written with a vertical line both sides of the number, so the absolute value of x is written as ...


When working with absolute values always tackle the absolute part first. Lets try an example ...

First, we work out what the absolute value of minus 7 is. This is simply 7, as we simply ignore the minus sign, so we have ...