This week in pre-calculus 11 we covered the concept of absolute values. The absolute value can be defined as “the principle square root of the square of a number or rather . In simpler terms, the absolute value represents how many units away from zero the given number is.  The symbol used to represent absolute value is two longer lines resembling brackets on either side of a number or expression, they are referred to as “bars” it looks like |x| for example. Unlike brackets however you CANNOT distribute through the absolute value bars.

Example problem- Simplify

-3|4-1|+2|1-4|

=-3|3|+2|3|

=-3(3)+2(3)

=-9+6

=-3