What is the absolute value of a negative number?
Here’s how you can picture absolute value: Think of a railroad track with a zero sitting in the middle of it. Every little notch to the left and right of the zero is another number. Negative numbers line up on the left; positive numbers run along the track to the right. So, the number –4.0 is 4 units away from zero. The number –45.3 is 45.3 units away from zero and the number 10 is 10 units away from zero. Therefore, the absolute value of any number is really a positive number (or zero). You identify an absolute value of a number by writing the number between two vertical bars: |number|. Here are some examples of how you depict an absolute value.
