Absolute Value

... only how far a number is from zero:

"6" is 6 away from zero,
and "-6" is also 6 away from zero.

So the absolute value of 6 is 6,
and the absolute value of -6 is also 6

More Examples:

So in practice "absolute value" means to remove any negative sign in front of a number, and to think of all numbers as positive.

To show that you want the absolute value of something, you put "|" marks either side, like these examples:

|-5| = 5

|7| = 7

And it doesn't matter which way around you do a subtraction, the absolute value will always be the same:

\|8-3\| = 5	\|3-8\| = 5
(8-3 = 5)	(3-8 = -5, and \|-5\| = 5)