Question about a math symbol

[lawan]

What does this " | " mean in these problems? |-10+5| < or > |-15| and |-51| < or > |0|

 

[Deleted member 4993]

What does this " | " mean in these problems? |-10+5| < or > |-15| and |-51| < or > |0|

Generally || indicates "absolute value". For example,

|15| = 15

|-15| = 15

You'll notice that the "absolute value" term in this answer is in font color blue. That means, if you double-click on that term (blue) - you'll get further explanation of that term

For a further review, go to:

http://www.purplemath.com/modules/absolute.htm

 

[pka]

What does this " | " mean in these problems? |-10+5| < or > |-15| and |-51| < or > |0|

Technically the symbol \(\displaystyle \|\) means metric.
\(\displaystyle |x-y|\) means the distance between the numbers \(\displaystyle x~\&~y\).

Thus \(\displaystyle |-51|=|-51-0|=51\) because there are fifty-one units between \(\displaystyle -51~\&~0\).