Question

How do you evaluate `-| ( - 8) + 5| - 3`?

Answer 1

`-6`

Explanation:

Remove the parenthesis and evaluate the absolute value:

`=-|-8+5|-3`

`=-|-3|-3`

The absolute value represents the distance between a number and zero. So `|-3|` is simply saying the distance between `-3` and `0`. Additionally, distance is always expressed as a positive quantity so the `|3|` and `|-3|` is `3` regardless of whether or not it has a negative sign.

We now have the following expression

`=-(3)-3`

The negative is applied to the `3` resulting in:

`=-3-3`

`=-6`