Absolute value

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The absolute value of a number is a measure of the size of that number. The absolute value of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x} is written Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |x|} .

If $x$ is a positive number, then $|x|=x$.

If $x=0$ then $|x|=0$.

Absolute value has several useful properties. One is the multiplicative property. If $x$ and $y$ are two numbers, then $|xy|=|x|\times |y|$. Another is the triangle inequality, which is the fact that $|x+y|\leq |x|+|y|$. For example, if $x=3$ and $y=-5$, then $|x+y|=|3+(-5)|=|3-5|=|-2|=2$, while $|x|+|y|=|-5|+|3|=5+3=8$. In this case, the triangle inequality is the fact that 2 is not more than 8.

Complex numbers also have an absolute value (sometimes called the modulus). If $z=x+iy$ is a complex number with real part $x$ and imaginary part $y$, then Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |z| = \sqrt{x^2 + y^2}} . If we represent Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle z} as a point in the complex plane with coordinates Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle (x,y)} , then Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |z|} is the distance from this point to the origin. The absolute value of complex numbers also has the multiplicative property and satisfies the triangle inequality.