The absolute value of a number is its distance from 0 on the number line. Since distance is always greater than or equal to 0, the absolute value of any number is greater than or equal to 0.
- |4.7| < 1/2
Practice makes perfect
We want to complete the given statement. To do so, we will evaluate the absolute values on both sides.
- |4.7| 1/2
The absolute value of a number is the distance between this number and 0 on the number line. Since distance is always greater than or equal to 0, the absolute value of any number is greater than or equal to 0. The absolute value of a non-negative number is equal to the number, while the absolute value of a negative number is equal to its opposite.
With this in mind, let's simplify the left-hand side!
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- |4.7|=- 4.7
Next, we can write the fraction on the right-hand side as a decimal number to make it easier for us to compare the numbers.
ccc
1/2=0.5
Now, we will plot the numbers on a number line to see which one is greater.
We can see that - |4.7| is located to the left of 12. This means it is less than 12. With this in mind, we can complete our statement.
