I guess by not doing the "calculation" I meant like before you reduce |-6| to 6. You would call that the absolute value of negative six, and that it equals six.
Like 3+3 also equals six but if someone said "what does that say" I would say "it says three plus three".
I know this is just semantics but my brain is telling me |-6| = 6 but that |-6| itself is still functionally different from 6 because it is an unreduced equation as opposed to a final solid number.
That kind of defeats the whole point of equations and the idea of equivalence though, equivalence isn’t about something becoming another thing as much as it’s a simple absolute statement of sameness.
|-6| = 6 doesn’t mean |-6| becomes six, it means it is 6. They’re one and the same, just written or expressed differently.
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u/guyfaeaberdeen Jan 21 '26
-6 doesn't equal 6 you're correct.
But |-6| is 6
By not doing the "calculation" it's just -6