The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Absolute value is an operation in mathematics, written as bars on either side of the expression. For example, the absolute value of -1 is written as |-1|.
Absolute value can be thought of in three ways. First, the absolute value of any number is defined as the positive of that number. For example, |8| = 8 and |-8| = 8. Second, one absolute value equation can yield two solutions. For example, if we solve the equation |x| = 2, not only does x = 2 but also x = -2 because |2| = 2 and |-2| = 2.
Third, absolute value is defined as the distance, without regard to direction, that any number is from 0 on the real number line. Consider a formula for the distance on the real number line as |k - 0|, in which k is any real number. Then, for example, the distance that 11 is from 0 would be 11 (because |11 - 0| = 11). Likewise, the absolute value of 11 is equal to 11. The distance for -11 will also equal 11 (because |-11 -0| = |-11| = 11), and the absolute value of -11 is 11.
Thus, the absolute value of any real number is equal to the absolute value of its distance from 0 on the number line. Furthermore, if the absolute value is not used in the above formula |k - 0|, the result for any negative number will be a negative distance. Absolute value helps improve formulas in order to obtain realistic solutions.