Question

|x - 12| = 4
please provide an explanation

Answer 1

Answer: x = 16, x = 8

Explanation:

|a| > 0, there are two solutions

|a| = 0, there is one solution

|a| < 0, there are no solutions

So, in this problem, we have two solutions.

In absolute value, the expression inside can be equal to itself OR its opposite.

Ex: |y| = y, |y| = -y

So, we can write two equations:

x - 12 = 4, x = 16

-x+12 = 4, x = 8

Check: |16 - 12| = |4| = 4

Check: |8 - 12| = |-4| = 4