Expert: Steve Holleran - 9/3/2007

Question
HOW DO U FINE THE ABSOULTE VALUE OF
[3/10] AND(-3.46). I DONT UNDERSTAND WAT TO DO

Answer
Hi Lauren,

Okay, what you want to do is think of absolute value as meaning how far the number is from zero on a number line, without regard to whether its positive or negative.

So, | 3/10 | = 3/10

   | -3.46 | = 3.46  because that's how far it is from 0.

Actually, I hope you can see, the absolute value of a number is just the number with the sign dropped off:

 |-12| = 12,      | 765| = 765   |-2/3| = 2/3

Hope this helps you out.

Steve Holleran