Algebra Examples

$| 5 + - 3 - - 2 |$

Step 1

Replace all occurrences of $-$ $-$ with a single $+$ . Two consecutive minus signs have the same mathematical meaning as a single plus sign because $- 1 \cdot - 1 = 1$

$| 5 + - 3 + 2 |$

Step 2

Replace all occurrences of $+$ $-$ with a single $-$ . A plus sign followed by a minus sign has the same mathematical meaning as a single minus sign because $1 \cdot - 1 = - 1$

$| 5 - 3 + 2 |$

Step 3

Subtract $3$ from $5$ .

$| 2 + 2 |$

Step 4

Add $2$ and $2$ .

$| 4 |$

Step 5

The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between $0$ and $4$ is $4$ .

$4$