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.
- |1 14| > - |- 1 38|
Practice makes perfect
We want to complete the given statement. To do so, we will evaluate the absolute values on both sides.
- |1 14| - |- 1 38|
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 absolute values!
ccc
- |1 14|=- 1 14 [0.9em]
- |- 1 38|=- 1 38
Next, we can write those mixed numbers as decimal numbers to make it easier for us to compare them. Let's start with - 1 14.
Now, we will plot the numbers on a number line to see which one is greater.
We can see that - |1 14| is located to the right of - |- 1 38|. This means it is greater than - |- 1 38|. With this in mind, we can complete our statement.
