Question

Evaluate the expression when $a=-2\text{and}b=-13$.

localid="1648800258866" $\left|-a\right|$

Short answer

The value of the expressionis 2.

Step-by-step solution

Step-1 – Absolute value of a number

Absolute value of any positive or negative number is always positive and equal to the magnitude of the number. The absolute value of a number N is denoted by $\left|N\right|$.

The absolute value of a number represents the distance of the number from 0 in the number line.

Step-2 – Example of Absolute value

The absolute value of 3 is denoted by $\left|3\right|$and is equal to 3.

And the absolute value of $-4$is denoted by $\left|-4\right|$and is equal to 4.

Step-3 – Evaluate the expression

To evaluate the value of the expression $\left|-a\right|$, substitute role="math" localid="1647470702952" $-2$ for a and simplify further as shown below,

$\begin{array}{l}\left|-a\right|=\left|-\left(-2\right)\right|\\ =\left|2\right|\\ =2\end{array}$

Thus, the value of the given expression is 2.