Which symbol will make the number sentence |–12| ? 12 true?
I know the answer is the = symbol. Why does |–12| = 12?
To understand why the expression |–12| = 12 is true, we first need to understand what the absolute value |–12| represents.
The absolute value is a mathematical function that gives the distance of a number from zero on a number line. It disregards the sign of the number and only considers its magnitude (its distance from zero). The absolute value of a number can never be negative.
So, in this case, |-12| represents the distance of -12 from zero on a number line. Since -12 is 12 units away from zero, the absolute value of -12 is 12.
In terms of the symbol that makes the number sentence |–12| ? 12 true, it is indeed the = symbol, indicating that the absolute value of -12 is equal to 12. This is because the absolute value function simply provides the non-negative magnitude of a number, and in this case, -12 has a magnitude of 12.
In other words, |–12| = 12 states that the absolute value of -12 is equal to 12.