Question

Mike says the opposite of 5 is –5 and the absolute value of 5 is –5. Is he correct?

Use the drop-down menus to explain your answer.

Answer 1

I don't know what the dropdown menus are, but Mike is half-correct. The opposite of a number is the number with the opposite sign, so the opposite of 5 is -5. But the absolute value of a number is its distance from zero on a number line, and distances can't be negative, so the absolute value of 5 is 5, not -5.