Question

What is absolute value and why is it always positive?

Answer 1

You can describe absolute value as a number's (Negative or positive) distance from zero.

Explanation:

Say you have 4 and -4. 4's absolute value is four because it is four number units away from zero. -4 is a negative number but its absolute value would still be positive four because it is still four number units away from zero even though those number units are negative.

Answer 2

Explanation:

An absolute value is the distance a number is from 0 on the number line. So, regardless if it is a negative or a positive number, the distance from that number to 0 will always be positive. For example, -5 is 5 units away from 0, and 5 is also 5 units from zero. They have the same absolute value, even though one is negative and the other is positive.