Thursday, January 30, 2014

High School Math Solutions – Absolute Value Equation Calculator

Solving absolute value equations is somewhat tricky; it requires understanding of the absolute value property.

In short, to solve simple absolute value equations first isolate the absolute value on one side of the equation, numbers on the other side.  Write two simple equations without absolute values like this:  |f(x)|=a  =>  f(x)=a  or  f(x)=-a

Finally, solve the two simple equations.  (click here for a quick review of simple equations)

Here's how it works (click here):


Solving equations involving multiple absolute values or variables requires some more attention.

Here you should first find the positive and negative ranges of the absolute values.  Write the simple equations for the different ranges, solve and validate the solutions are within the range.

Here's how it works (click here):


Until next time,
Michal