Absolute Value (Jump to: Lecture | Video )

| 2 | = ?

What is the absolute value of 2? Let's check on the number line:

Figure 1.

Here, "2" is 2 points away from 0. So, | 2 | = 2.

How would we solve "| -3 | = ?". Again, we use the number line.

Figure 2.

"-3" is 3 points away from 0. So, | -3 | = 3

The absolute value of any number is always positive.