This week, we looked at what absolute values were. Absolute values are the distance that the number is from zero. In class, we used the analogy of attempting to throw crumpled paper balls into a garbage bin. One person made the shot, others missed and landed a certain distance from the trash can. While some paper balls will have landed in different positions, their distance from the trash can could be the same as another paper ball. Absolute values are written like so:

|-5| = 5

The answer is 5 because -5 is 5 away from 0.

|5| = 5

The answer is also 5 because 5 is 5 away from -5.

Numbers beside these terms act as coefficients. Like so:

3|-5|

3×5

=15

Or if there is an expression within the lines, you do those first before completing the equation:

3|-3+6|

3|3|

3*3

= 9

You can almost think of the lines like brackets.