what is the absolute value

The absolute value of a real number, denoted as |x|, is the non-negative value of x without regard to its sign. In other words, it represents the distance of the number from zero on the number line, always resulting in a positive value. For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of -3 is also 3. The absolute value is closely related to the idea of distance, as it measures the distance of a number from zero. It is represented by the symbol | | or as "abs()" in programming languages and computational software packages. The absolute value is always either a positive number or zero, but never negative. It has various properties, such as non-negativity, positive-definiteness, multiplicativeness, and subadditivity, which make it a fundamental concept in mathematics and other fields.