Question

Which pair of numbers are not opposites?

|7| and -7
17 and – 17
17 and | -17|
71 and - 71

Answer 1

The answer is 17 and |-17| because they both equal positive 17.

Answer 2

The answer is C, 17 and | -17|

Explanation:

We can solve this using the process of elimination.

Looking at the first one, we know that those | | around the 7 mean to find the absolute value. The absolute value is the number of units the number is from zero, and it is always positive. This means that it is saying 7 and -7. Those are opposites, so we know that this isn't right.

17 and -17 are opposites, since the opposite of a positive is a negative.

The last one is the same. 71 and -71 are opposites. That leaves us with C.

Remember that those | | mean to find the absolute value of. -17 is 17 unites from zero. So is 17 the oppostie of 17? No, so these are not opposites, and therefore are our answer.