Question

If x has an absolute value of 5 which of the following is true about x:

A. it is equal to neither 5 or -5
B. it is not equal to -5
C. it is only equal to 5
D. it is either equal to 5 or -5

Answer 1

You can think of absolute values in two ways.

One way to is to think of it as the distance from positive 5 to zero or the distance from -5 to zero on a number line.

The second way is to use just math. The absolute sign tells us the value of x can be equal to 5 or the negative of x can be equal to 5.

The value of x equals 5.

x=5

Negative of x equals 5

-(x)=5
x=-5