What does this symbol mean in math |number| ? - Printable Version +- Twitist Forums (http://twitist.com) +-- Forum: Twitter forums (/forum-1.html) +--- Forum: Twitter Hashtag (/forum-2.html) +--- Thread: What does this symbol mean in math |number| ? (/thread-39373.html) |
What does this symbol mean in math |number| ? - Marina - 11-09-2012 10:30 PM Basically what does | | mean? For example |3x-7|=8 . Is the answer 5? - Humbocchio - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM I'm pretty sure it means "absolute value". It represents the number's true distance from zero, so whatever number inside the lines will be turned positive if not already so. - Max - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM It means absolute value so pretty much, how many spaces away from zero. So, say |7| = |-7| It makes everything a positive - Fgdf Dfgdfg - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM its the sign for absolute value which means that any value which comes out of the equation is always positive, so if the answer is negative just change the - into a + and yes 5 is the solution to this equation - Clumsy Apple - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM those are brackets which means you have to solve the problem in the brackets first before you do anything else. what you do is add 7 to 8 which will get you 15 then you have 3x left then you divide 15 by 3 which is 5 which you are correct. - Antwi Daniel - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM I I mean line - Colin Higashi - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM It means how far is the number from 0, so it always has 2 different answers. This problem is either 5 or -1/3. 3*5=15, 15-7=8 -1/3*3=-1, -1-7=-8 Both 8 and -8 are 8 intergers away from 0, so the answer to the absolute value of each is 8. Basically, just change the sign of the final answer to a positive. - Colin Higashi - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM Yes, it's an Absolute Value, meaning that the value will always be positive. Because of this you have two answers, 5 and -1/3. (the absolute value of -8 is 8) - jew - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM It stands for "the absolute value of," which is the distance a number is from zero on a number line. When solving absolute value equations, you have to account for both the positive and negative quantities. You solve (3x-7)=8 first. 3x-7=8 3x=15 x=5 Then, solve for -(3x-7)=8 -(3x-7)=8 -3x+7=8 -3x=1 x = -1/3 So, you actually have two answers. x=5, -1/3 - Wile E. - 11-09-2012 10:38 PM In pre-Windows MSDOS computers, the | symbol used alone was called a pipeline and, at the time, had no place in mathematics. In Twitter, it's called a hashtag. Used in pairs with an algebraic or numberic expression inside them, they are called absolute value symbols. Basically, the ultimate value of the expression has neither a positive nor negative value, it just has a value. Essentially, the expression itself can be positive or negative, resulting in two possible solutions. Possible because one solution may be extraneous. To use your example, |3x - 7| = 8 ± (3x - 7) = 8 First Possible Solution: + (3x - 7) = 8 3x - 7 = 8 3x = 8 + 7 3x = 15 x = 15 / 3 x = 5 Second Possible Solution: - (3x - 7) = 8 - 3x + 7 = 8 - 3x = 8 - 7 - 3x = 1 x = - 1/3 Testing Each Possible Solution, If x = 5, |3(5) - 7) = 8 |15 - 7|= 8 |8| = 8 If x = - 1/3, |3(- 1/3) - 7| = 8 |- 1 - 7| = 8 |- 8| = 8 x = 5 and x = - 1/3 are both valid solutions. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ A real world application of the absolute value is in calculating the hypotenuse of a right triangle given the two sides. As you know, the hypotenuse is the square root of the sum of the squares of the sides. Normally, square rooting will return a positive/negative value, but the hypotenuse can be neither positive nor negative. ... |