Absolute Value

Absolute Value
Group 5
 INTRODUCTION

Absolute value means only how far a number is from zero:

“6” is 6 away from zero, More Examples:

And “-6” is also 6 away from zero  The absolute value of -9 is 9
 The absolute value of 3 is 3
So the absolute value of 6 is 6,  The absolute value of 0 is 0
And the absolute value of -6 is also 6  The absolute value of -156 is 156
 INTRODUCTION
 No Negatives
Absolute Value means to remove any negative sign in front of a number, and to
think of all numbers as positive (or zero)

 Absolute Value Symbol

To show that we want the absolute value of something, we put “|” marks either
side (they are called “bars” and are found on the right side of a keyboard)

Example:

|-5| = 5 |7| = 7

Sometimes absolute value is also written as “abs()”, so abs(-1) = 1 is the same as

|-1| = 1
 INTRODUCTION
Contoh:

 Subtract Either Way Around:

And it doesn’t matter which way around we do a subtraction, the absolute value will always be
the same:
-> |8-3| = 5 (8-3 = 5)
-> |3-8| = 5 (3-8 = -5, and |-5| = 5)
 INTRODUCTION
Example:

|-3x6| = 18
Because -3x6 = -18, and |-18| = 18

-|5-2| = -3
Because 5-2 = 3 and then the first minus gets us -3

-|2-5| = -3
Because 2-5 = -3, |-3| = 3, and thene the first minus gets us -3

-|-12| = -12
Because |-12| = 12 and then the first minus gets us -12
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
More formally we have:

Which says the absolute value of x equals:

 x when x is greater than zero
 0 when x equals 0
 -x when x is less than zero (this “flips” the number back to positive)
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Here are some properties of absolute values that can be useful:
 \ a \ ≥ 0 always!
|a| can never be less than zero
Example: |3| = 3, |-5| = 5

 \ a \ = √(a)2
Squaring a makes it positive or zero (for a as a reale number). Then taking the square root
will “undo” the squaring, but leave it positive or zero

 \a xb\=\a\ x\b\
Means these are the same:
-> The absolute value of (a times b), and
-> (The absolute value of a) times (the absolute value of b)

 \ u \ = a is the same as u = ±a and vice versa

 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Example:

Solve \ x+2 \ = 5
Using “ | u | = a is the same as u = ± a”:

this: |x+2| = 5
Is the same as this: x+2 = ± 5

Which has two solutions:

x+2 = -5 x+2 = +5
x = -7 x=3
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Graphically
Let us graph that example:
| x +2 | = 5

It is easier to graph when we have an “=0” equation, so subtract 5 from both sides:
|x +2| -5 = 0

So now we can plot y=|x+2|-5 and find where it equals zero.

Here is the pot of y=|x+2|-5, let’s make the graph by shifting it around:

Start with y = |x| Then shift it left to Then shift it down to

make it y = |x+2| make it y = |x+2|-5
And the two solutions (circled) are -7 and +3
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Absolute Value Inequalities
There are 4 inequalities:
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Solve |x| < 3 Solve |x| ≤ 3

-3 < x < 3 -3 ≤ x ≤ 3
Interval: (-3, 3) Interval: [-3, 3]
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Solve |3x-6| ≤ 12 Solve |x| > 3

-12 ≤ 3x-6 ≤ 12
+6
-6 ≤ 3x ≤ 18 1
-------------------- x
3 X < -3 or x > 3
-2 ≤ x ≤ 6
Interval: (-∞,-3) U (3,+∞)
Interval: [-2, 6]
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA

DO NOT write as
Solve |x| ≥ 3

-3 > x > 3 x ≤ -3 or x ≥ 3

Interval: (-∞, -3] U [3, +∞)

But instead, write as
X < -3 or x > 3
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Solve |4x+3|<9
3
-3 <x <
2

3
< x < -3
2

3
x < -3 or x >
2

3
x> or x < -3
2
 ABSOLUTE VALUE IN ALGEBRA
Solve |4x+3|<9
-9 < 4x+3 < 9
-9-3 < 4x+3-3 < 9-3
-12 < 4x < 6
1
--------------- x
4
3
-3 <x <
2
 ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION
This is the Absolute Value Function:
f(x) = |x|

It is also sometimes written: abs(x)

This is its graph:

f(x) = |x|
It makes a right angle at (0,0)
It is an even function
 ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION
Recall that in its basic form f(x) = |x|, the absolute value function, is one of our toolkit functions.
The absolute value function is commonly thought of as providing the distance the number is from zero
on a number line.
Algebraically, for whatever the input value is, the output is the value without regard to sign.

Absolute Value Function

The absolute value function can defined as a piecewise function
 ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION
Example 1:
Describe all values x within or including a distance of 4 from the number 5.

Solution:
We want the distance between x and 5 to be less than or equal to 4. we can draw a number line, such as
the one in, to represent the condition to be satisfied.

The distance from x to 5 can be represented using the absolute value as |x-5|. We want the values of x
that satisfy the condition |x-5| ≤ 4

Analysis:
-4 ≤ x-5 x-5 ≤ 4
1≤x x≤9
 ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION
Example 2:
Electrical parts, such as resistors and capacitors, come with specified values of their operating
parameters: resistance, capacitance, etc. however, due to imprecision in manufacturing, the actual
values of these parameters vary somewhat from piece to piece, even when they are supposed to be the
same. The best that manufacturers can do is to try to guarantee that variations will stay within as
specified ranga, often ±1%, ±5%, or ±10%

Suppose we have a resistor rated at 680 ohms, ±5%. Use the absolute value function to express the
range of possible values of the actual resistance.

Solution:
5% of 680 ogms is 34 ohms. The absolute value of the difference between the actual and nominal
resistance should not exceed the stated variability, so with the resistance R in ohms,

| R – 680 | ≤ 34
Thank you