Question

When doing a calculation involving zoning laws, Tim comes across the following expression:

fraction a- open vertical bar a close vertical bar over denominator a end fraction,

where a is either a positive or a negative number.

(A) What is the value of the expression when a equals 5?

(B) What is the value of the expression when a equals negative 5?

Plug in the numerical value for a into the expression. Remember that the absolute value of a number is always non-negative. Follow the order of operations to find the value of the expression.

Answer 1

If the fraction is
(a-|a|)/a

then its value is
0 if a is positive
2 if a is negative

since
|a| = a if a is positive
|a| = -a if a is negative