Absolute Value Equations: Algebra

Happy Wednesday math friends! Today, we’re going to go over how to solve absolute value equations.  Solving for absolute value equations supplies us with the magic of two potential answers since absolute value is measured by the distance from zero.  And if this sounds confusing, fear not, because everything is explained below!

Also, if you have any questions about anything here, don’t hesitate to comment. Happy calculating! 🙂

Absolute Value measures the “absolute value” or absolute distance from zero.  For example, the absolute value of 4 is 4 and the absolute value of -4 is also 4.  Take a look at the number line below for a clearer picture:

Absolute Value

Now let’s see how we can apply our knowledge of absolute value equations when there is a missing variable!Absolute Value Equations exampleScreen Shot 2020-07-08 at 2.03.46 PM.pngAbsolute Value EquationsScreen Shot 2020-07-08 at 2.04.26 PM.pngAbsolute Value Equations

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Absolute Value EquationsNow let’s look at a slightly different example:

Absolute Value Equations exampleScreen Shot 2020-07-08 at 2.07.59 PM

Absolute Value Equations

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Absolute Value Equations

Screen Shot 2020-07-08 at 2.09.33 PMAbsolute Value Equations Screen Shot 2020-07-08 at 2.10.39 PM.pngAbsolute Value Equations

Practice Questions: Given the following right triangles, find the missing lengths and side angles rounding to the nearest whole number.

Absolute Value Equations examples

Solutions:

Absolute Value Equations solutions

Still got questions?  No problem! Check out the video the same examples outlined above. Happy calculating! 🙂

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Also, if you’re looking for a review on combining like terms and the distributive property, check out this post here.