Final answer:
When you see a bracket or two straight lines around a negative number, it indicates absolute value. Absolute value refers to the magnitude or distance of a number from zero on a number line, without considering its sign.
Step-by-step explanation:
When you see a bracket or two straight lines around a negative number, it indicates absolute value. Absolute value refers to the magnitude or distance of a number from zero on a number line, without considering its sign. It is denoted by enclosing the number within brackets or two straight lines. When a number is absolute, it is always positive or zero.
For example, the absolute value of -5 is written as | -5 |, which evaluates to 5. This shows that the distance between -5 and 0 on the number line is 5 units.
In some cases, the absolute value function can also be represented using a single straight line, such as |x|. This indicates that regardless of the sign of x, the output will always be positive or zero.