theymos answered Friday February 9 2007, 12:49 pm: |-2|=+2, |2|=+2, it's the distance from 0 on a number line(so always positive). Opposite of -1=+1, +1=-1, the distance from zero, but the direction is reversed(always the opposing sign; + to -, - to +).
|-4|
</-4/-3/-2/-1/ /+1/+2/+3/+4/>
It's 4 from 0, so the absolute value of -4 is 4
Opposite of -4
</-4/-3/-2/-1/ /+1/+2/+3/+4/>
-4 is 4 from 0, +4 is 4 from 0 in the opposite direction, so the opposite of -4 is 4. [ theymos's advice column | Ask theymos A Question ]
charmed3fanatic answered Friday February 9 2007, 12:11 pm: well absolute value is somethign that will ALWAYS be positive. for example the absolute value of 7-9 is 2 even though the answer is -2 it's always positive so it woudl just be 2 =) [ charmed3fanatic's advice column | Ask charmed3fanatic A Question ]
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