What is Absolute Value?

Absolute Value

The absolute value of a number is its distance from zero on the number line, regardless of direction. It is always zero or positive.

Think about a number line stretched out in front of you. Zero sits right in the middle. Numbers to the right are positive, numbers to the left are negative — but distance is always positive. You can't walk a negative number of steps!

The absolute value of a number $n$ is written as $∣ n ∣$ .

$∣7∣ = 7$ — the number 7 is 7 units away from zero
$∣ - 7∣ = 7$ — the number –7 is also 7 units away from zero
$∣0∣ = 0$ — zero is 0 units from itself

Analogy

Imagine you're standing at zero on a giant number line painted on the floor. Whether you walk 7 steps to the right or 7 steps to the left, you've still travelled 7 steps. The direction doesn't change how far you walked — that's absolute value!

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