# How do you find the absolute value and the opposite of the integer 98?

##### 1 Answer
Jun 2, 2015

The absolute value of a number is the positive magnitude to the number,
or, stated another way, if a number is positive (or zero), the absolute value of that number is the number itself; if a number is negative, the absolute value of that number is the negative of the negative number.
$\left\mid a \right\mid = \left\{\begin{matrix}a \text{ if " a>= 0 \\ -a " if } a < 0\end{matrix}\right.$
The absolute value of 98 is
$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$98.

The opposite of a number might mean one of two things:
$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$The additive inverse
$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$The number which when added to a given number equals 0.
$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$The **additive inverse of $98$ is $\left(- 98\right)$

$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$The multiplicative inverse
$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$The number which when multiplied by the given number equals 1.
$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$$\textcolor{w h i t e}{\text{XXXXX}}$The multiplicative inverse of $98$ is $\frac{1}{98}$.