The absolute value returns the "positive version" of a number.
In other words, if the number is positive, it remains positive; if the number is negative, it changes sign.
So, if we want , we want the "positive version" of x to be 9.
This can happen in two ways: if x is already 9, then its absolute value is still nine. If instead x=-9, its positive value will be 9 again.
In formula, we have
because
Example:
We can see that there is more than one number with the variable x, therefore, we say they're ''like terms'' and because of that they can be summed. We do this with all of the other numbers with similar variables. If no numbers with similar variables are left, like 4a, you don't do anything but write them as they are. You can also see that 8 and 9 can also be summed because neither of them has a variable, therefore they're similar.
In this step, you just do the operation with the numbers and keep the same variable.
since there are not more numbers similar in variables, this operation is done.
