ABSOLUTE VALUE

(Modulus)

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Definition
The absolute value (or modulus) For example, ; of a real number x is x's numerical value without regard to its sign. ;

Graph:

Important properties:

3-steps approach:
General approach to solving equalities and inequalities with absolute value: 1. Open modulus and set conditions. To solve/open a modulus, you need to consider 2 situations to find all roots: Positive (or rather non-negative) Negative

For example, a) Positive: if , we can rewrite the equation as:

b) Negative: if , we can rewrite the equation as: We can also think about conditions like graphics. is a key point in which the expression under modulus equals zero. All points right are the first conditions and all points left are second

conditions

2. Solve new equations: a) --> x=5 b) --> x=-3 3. Check conditions for each solution: a) has to satisfy initial condition have to reject x=5. b) has to satisfy initial condition would have to reject x=-3.

. .

. It satisfies. Otherwise, we would . It satisfies. Otherwise, we

3-steps approach for complex problems

Lets consider following examples, Example #1 Q.: . How many solutions does the equation have? Solution: There are 3 key points here: -8, -3, 4. So we have 4 conditions: a) . --> condition is not satisfied (-1 is not less than -8) . We reject the solution because our

b) . --> condition is not satisfied (-15 is not within (-8,-3) interval.) c) . --> is not satisfied (-15 is not within (-3,4) interval.) d) . not satisfied (-1 is not more than 4) -->

. We reject the solution because our

. We reject the solution because our condition

. We reject the solution because our condition is

(Optional) The following illustration may help you understand how to open modulus at different conditions.

Answer: 0 Example #2 Q.: . What is x? Solution: There are 2 conditions: a) --> satisfy the condition. b) --> satisfy the condition. or . --> .xe{ , } and both solutions

-->

.xe{

} and both solutions

(Optional) The following illustration may help you understand how to open modulus at different conditions.

Answer:

Tip & Tricks

The 3-steps method works in almost all cases. At the same time, often there are shortcuts and tricks that allow you to solve absolute value problems in 10-20 sec. I. Thinking of inequality with modulus as a segment at the number line. For example, Problem: 1<x<9. What inequality represents this condition?

A. |x|<3 B. |x+5|<4 C. |x-1|<9

D. |-5+x|<4 E. |3+x|<5 Solution: 10sec. Traditional 3-steps method is too time-consume technique. First of all we find length (9-1)=8 and center (1+8/2=5) of the segment represented by 1<x<9. Now, lets look at our options. Only B and D has 8/2=4 on the right side and D had left site 0 at x=5. Therefore, answer is D. II. Converting inequalities with modulus into range expression. In many cases, especially in DS problems, it helps avoid silly mistakes. For example, |x|<5 is equal to x e (-5,5). |x+3|>3 is equal to x e (-inf,-6)&(0,+inf) III. Thinking about absolute values as distance between points at the number line. For example, Problem: A<X<Y<B. Is |A-X| <|X-B|? 1) |Y-A|<|B-Y| Solution:

We can think about absolute values here as distance between points. Statement 1 means than distance between Y and A is less than Y and B. Because X is between A and Y, distance between |X-A| < |Y-A| and at the same time distance between X and B will be larger than that between Y and B (|B-Y|<|BX|). Therefore, statement 1 is sufficient.

Pitfalls
The most typical pitfall is ignoring third step in opening modulus - always check whether your solution satisfies conditions.

GMAT Math will ask you about absolute values. Mastering what the GMAT asks about them requires sophisticated understanding.

Somewhere along the line, perhaps in middle school, you probably learned:

|positive| = positive and |negative| = positive

In other words, the equation |x| = 5 has the solution: x = 5 or x = 5. (Notice: the word or is not a garnish there; its actually an essential piece of mathematical equipment.)

Expanding the Pattern

Thats great, but the GMAT is simply not going to ask you to solve the equation |x| = 5. When the GMAT asks about absolute value, its going to be something more in the vein of |3x 7| = 5. The basic idea is (as is often the case in more advanced algebra) is to replace x in the simpler equation above with whatever thing is between the absolute value. If q is a positive constant, then

|thing| = q

has the solution:

thing = q or thing = -q In the given example,

|3x 7| = 5

3x 7 = 5 or 3x 7 = -5 3x = 12 or 3x = 2 x = 4 or x = 3/2 Thats an example of an absolute value equation, which the GMAT could ask. The GMAT is even more likely to ask about an absolute value inequality.

Rethinking Absolute Value

OK, lets face it. The definition of absolute value that says keeps a positive positive, and makes a negative positive the utility of that definition peaks in middle school. We need to have a more sophisticated understanding of absolute value to handle everything the GMAT will ask of it.

Here is the more sophisticated definition of absolute value. The absolute value of x, |x| is the distance of x from zero on the number line. Of course, its always positive, because distance is away positive. To extend that further: |x 4| is the distance of x from 4; |x 7| is the distance of x from 7;|x + 3| is the distance of x from -3 (this is because x + 3 = x (-3) when written as subtraction).

That is profoundly important in solving the absolute value inequalities that the GMAT will ask of you. Suppose a GMAT Math question asks you: represent the region -1 < x < 9 as an absolute value inequality.

The first step is to find the midpoint of the region: 4 is exactly halfway between -1 and 9. Now the distances: 9 is a distance of 5 from 4, and so is -1. So the distance from 4 (viz. |x 4|) cant equal 5, but it can be anything up to 5. Thus

|x 4|< 5

is the absolute value inequality representation of the region -1 < x < 9. Integrate this understanding, and you will be able to handle anything the GMAT asks you about absolute value.tim

Intimidated