Absolute Value: What it is and how to work with it - 1510

I have not been in grade school for many years, and in my college career I have not used a great deal of math. In this time, I seemed to have forgotten about the idea of absolute value! This was never a tricky idea to me back when I was using it, but after not having used it for so long, it became a little slow-going when trying to work with it again. I have found that in order to deal with absolute value, I have to take my time and check my work! Those two things have really helped me when dealing with this topic.

So, what is absolute value anyway?Absolute value can be defined as the number of units an integer is from 0 on a number line. For all numbers not = 0, the absolute value is positive.
The following link talks about absolute value in very easy to understand terms, and includes a number line, practice problems and examples that you can check out!

Math is Fun - Absolute Value

This seems really simple, doesn't it! It's not confusing, at all. The confusing part comes when you try to add, subtract, multiply and divide with numbers calling for an absolute value. This video here shows how to do those operations when also dealing with absolute value. I found it very helpful, simply to watch another person doing it! I hope it helps you, too.