Absolute Value Equations
Suppose you and your friend, Ahmad, each live on the same street as your school, but on opposite sides of the school. Each lives 2 miles from the school. What can you say about your trips to school? Do you travel the same distance? Consider placing both houses and the school on a number line with the school at the origin. Your house is located at 2, and Ahmad’s is located at -2. Certainly -5 and 5 are quite different, but they have something in common. They are the same distance from 0 on the number line. This means that you and Ahmad travel the same distance, but in different directions, when you go to school. We say that -2 and 2 have the same absolute value. The absolute value of a number is the number of units it is from 0 on the number line. We use the symbol /x/ to represent the absolute value of a number .
Find out more about absolute value equations by reading the explanation below.
Practice: Answer the following exercises about absolute value equations.