what is the absolute value of a number
Definition of absolute value. Definition of absolute value: the absolute value of a number is the distance the number is from zero. Look at the following two graphs: The first one shows 6 located at a distance of 6 units from zero. We write |6| = 6. The second one shows -8 located at a distance of 8 units from zero. We write |-8| = 8. You can see from this that the absolute value of a number is always positive with the exception of taking the absolute value of 0 (|0| = 0)