Absolute Value

Absolute Value means ...

... only how far a number is from zero:

"6" is 6 away from zero,

and "6" is also 6 away from zero.
So the absolute value of 6 is 6,
and the absolute value of 6 is also 6

More Examples:

The absolute value of 9 is 9

The absolute value of 3 is 3

The absolute value of 0 is 0

The absolute value of 156 is 156

No Negatives!
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 zero).

Absolute Value Symbol

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

|5| = 5

|7| = 7

Sometimes absolute value is also written as "abs()", so abs(1) = 1 is the same as |1| = 1

Subtract Either Way Around

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

|83| = 5

|38| = 5

(83 = 5)

(38 = 5, and |5| = 5)

More Examples
Here are some more examples of how to handle absolute values:

|36| = 18
(36 = 18, and |18| = 18)

|52| = 3
(52 = 3 and then the first minus gets you 3)

|25| = 3
(25 = 3 , |3| = 3, and then the first minus gets you 3)

|12| = 12
(|12| = 12 and then the first minus gets you 12)

Absolute Value (Advanced)

Absolute Value means ...
... how far a number is from zero:

"6" is 6 away from zero,

and "6" is also 6 away from zero.
So the absolute value of 6 is 6,
and the absolute value of 6 is also 6

Absolute Value Symbol

To show you want the absolute value of something, you put "|" marks either side (called
"bars"), like these examples:

|5| = 5

|7| = 7

More Formal
So, when a number is positive or zero we leave it alone, when it is negative we change it to
positive.
This can all be written like this:

Which says the absolute value of x equals:

x when x is greater than zero

0 when x equals 0
x when x is less than zero (this "flips" the number back to positive)

Example: what is |17| ?

Well, it is less than zero, so we need to calculate "x":
( 17 ) = 17
(Because two minuses make a plus)

Useful Properties
Here are some properties of absolute values that can be useful:

|a| 0 always!
That makes sense ... |a| can never be less than zero.

|a| = (a2)
Squaring a makes it positive or zero (for a as a Real Number). Then taking the
square root will "undo" the squaring, but leave it positive or zero.

|a b| = |a| |b|
Means these are the same:

the absolute value of (a times b), and

(the absolute value of a) times (the absolute value of b).

Which can also be useful when solving

|u| = a is the same as u = a and vice versa

Which is often the key to solving most absolute value questions.

Example: solve |x+2|=5

Using "|u| = a is the same as u = a":
this:
is the same as this:

|x+2|=5
x+2 = 5

Which will have two solutions:

x+2 = 5

x+2 = +5

x = 7

x=3

Graphically
Let us graph that example:

|x+2| = 5
It is easier to graph if you have an "=0" equation, so subtract 5 from both sides:

|x+2| 5 = 0
And here is the plot of |x+2|5, but just for fun let's make the graph by shifting it around:

Start with |x|

then shift it left to make it|x+2|

then shift it down to make

it|x+2|-5

And you can see the two solutions: 7 or +3.

Absolute Value Inequalities

Mixing Absolute Values and Inequalites needs a little care!
There are 4 inequalities:

<

>

less than

less than
or equal to

greater than

greater than
or equal to

Less Than, Less Than or Equal To

With "<" and "" you get one interval centered on zero:

Example: Solve |x| < 3

This means the distance from x to zero must be less than 3:

Everything in between (but not including) -3 and 3

It can be rewritten as:

3 < x < 3
And as an interval it can be written as:
The same thing works for "Less Than or Equal To":

Example: Solve |x| 3

Everything in between and including -3 and 3

(3, 3)

It can be rewritten as:

3 x 3
And as an interval it can be written as:

[3, 3]

How about a bigger example?

Example: Solve |3x-6| 12

Rewrite it as:

12 3x6 12
Add 6:

6 3x 18
Lastly, multiply by (1/3). Because you are multiplying by a positive number, the inequalities
will not change:

2 x 6
Done!
And as an interval it can be written as:

Greater Than, Greater Than or Equal To

This is different ... you get two separate intervals:

Example: Solve |x| > 3

It looks like this:

[2, 6]

Up to -3 or from 3 onwards
It can be rewritten as

x < 3 or x > 3
As an interval it can be written as:

(, 3) U (3, +)

Careful! Do not write it as

3 > x > 3
"x" cannot be less than -3 and greater than 3 at the same time
It is really:

x < 3 or x > 3
"x" is less than 3 or greater than 3

The same thing works for "Greater Than or Equal To":

Example: Solve |x| 3

Can be rewritten as

x 3 or x 3
As an interval it can be written as:

(, 3] U [3, +)