Question

y = |x|
Can somebody help me understand this equation by giving a practical example

I understand its graph. I just need one practical example where |x| is useful please

Answer 1

Absolute Value can be useful when dealing with values of distances, where you can't have a negative result.

Answer 2

Absolute value when you learn it at first is usually with correlation to distance. Since distance cannot be negative, the absolute value is useful as a part of dealing with distances.

Answer 3

Thanks..
still I am not able to think of an example/situation when x is -ve, y stays +ve :(

Answer 4

Could you please provide an example

Answer 5

Like,
y = 2x

Buying x mangoes will cost you 2x

Answer 6

Okay. For example, a factory is cutting pieces of metal and needs to make sure they stay within 2cm of the 100cm target length, so you can use absolute value so that you get a positive number when, for example, you have a 99 and 101cm long piece:
|100-x|<2
|100-101|=1
|100-99|=1

Answer 7

understood now... Thanks a lot !! This really helped me xD

Answer 8

No problem :)