UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
PREPARING FOR UNIVERSITY MATH PROGRAM (PUMP II) – SUMMER 2017

Fundamentals: Absolute Value

I. Absolute Value (Definition)

Absolute value: the absolute value of a number is its distance from zero (which must be a non-
negative number). Mathematically:

𝑎, 𝑎≥0 Case 1
𝑎 =
−𝑎, 𝑎<0 Case 2

II. Distance between 𝒂, 𝒃 ∈ ℝ (Definition)

𝑎 − 𝑏 = |𝑏 − 𝑎| denotes the distance between two real numbers, 𝑎 and 𝑏.

III. Properties of Absolute Value (P.O.A.V.)

1. |𝑎| ≥ 0 since distance is always positive!
2. 𝑎 = −𝑎
3. 𝑎𝑏 = 𝑎 𝑏
! |!|
4. !
= |!|

IV. Properties of Absolute Value Inequalities (P.O.A.V. Ineq)

For a non-negative real number 𝑐,
1. 𝑎 ≤ 𝑐 ⇔ −𝑐 ≤ 𝑎 ≤ 𝑐
2. 𝑎 ≥ 𝑐 ⇔ 𝑎 ≤ −𝑐 or 𝑎 ≥ 𝑐
Note: these properties are not applicable when 𝑐 is an expression involving a variable.

Exercises
1. Use the definition of absolute value and the method of exhaustion to prove:
If 𝑎 = |𝑏|, then 𝑎 = ±𝑏.

2. Use the definition of absolute value to evaluate the following:

!! !
! !!! !! |!! !|
a) 10 − 𝑒 − 10 + 𝑒 b) !! ! ! !
c) !
!!
|!! !|
3. Use properties of inequalities/absolute value inequalities to prove:
a) If |𝑥| < 7, then 𝑥 + 4 < 11
b) If |𝑥 + 3| < 8, then −1 < 9 − 2𝑥 < 31.

4. Let 𝑓 be some function for which you only know that:

If 0 < 𝑥 − 2 < 1, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < 0.2
Use the above statement and properties of inequalities/absolute value inequalities to
determine which of the following statements are necessarily true?

a) If 𝑥 − 2 < 1, and 𝑥 ≠ 2, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < 0.2.

b) If 𝑥 − 2 < 1, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < 0.2.
c) If 𝑥 − 1.5 < 0.3, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < 0.2.
d) If 0 < 𝑥 − 2 < 2, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < 0.2.
e) If 0 < 𝑥 − 2 < 0.5, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < 0.2.
! !
f) If 0 < 𝑥 − 2 < !, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < !
(0.2).

g) If 0 < 𝑥 − 2 < 1, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 6 < 0.3.

h) If 0 < 𝑥 − 2 < 2, then 𝑓 𝑥 − 5.95 < 0.15.

5. Solve the following equations:

!!!
a) !! !!! = 3 b) 2𝑥 𝑥 − 2 = 3 1 + 𝑥 − 1

6. Consider the following inequalities:

!!
a) 2 − 𝑥 ≥ 5 b) 1 + 2𝑥 − 𝑥 > 3 c) !! ! ≤ 1

d) 𝑥 ! − 4 − 3 < 1 e) 𝑥 − 3 ≥ 2𝑥 + 5 f) 2 − 𝑥 ≥ 2𝑥 − 7

g) 𝑥 ! + 3𝑥 − 4 ≥ 2𝑥 − 2 f) 𝑥 ! + 2𝑥 − 3 > 𝑥 + 3

i. Determine for which exercises the P.O.A.V. Ineq. (given on page 1) are
not applicable.
ii. Solve each exercise. Note: See the “Solving Inequalities” supplementary handout,
pages 9-10, for guidance on how to solve an inequi P.O.A.V. Ineq. are not applicable.