Interpreting Absolute Value as Magnitude

Interpreting Absolute Value as Magnitude
Introduction

Absolute value helps describe the distance of a number from zero on a number line. It shows how far a number is from zero, without considering direction. This c...

During winter in Lena’s town, she saw that the temperature was -5°F. A few days later, it changed to 5°F.

When she pictured the numbers on a number line, with zero in the center, -5 was five units to the left, and 5 was five units to the right. Even though they were on opposite sides, both were the same distance from zero.

That’s wha...