Absolute Value Calculator Basics: Everything You Need to Know

Absolute Value Calculator Basics: How to Graph and Solve Absolute Value Equations

How can you solve and graph absolute value equations with a calculator?

Welcome to this free lesson guide that accompanies this Absolute Value Calculator Basics YouTube video, where you will learn the following skills:

• Absolute Value Calculator Skill #1: How to use the absolute value function on your graphing calculator (TI-83, TI-84, or TI-84 plus).

• Absolute Value Calculator Skill #2: How to solve basic absolute value equations and expressions on your graphing calculator (TI-83, TI-84, or TI-84 plus).

• Absolute Value Calculator Skill #3: How to graph absolute value equations and expressions on your graphing calculator (TI-83, TI-84, or TI-84 plus).

This Absolute Value Calculator Basics: Complete Guide includes several examples, a step-by-step tutorial, an animated video mini-lesson, and a free worksheet and answer key.

Are you ready to get started!?

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*This lesson guide accompanies our animated Absolute Value Calculator Lesson on YouTube.

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Absolute Value Calculator Skill 01:

How to use the absolute value function on your graphing calculator.

Note that the graphing calculators referred to in this guide are the common TI-83, TI-84, and TI-84 plus.

To use the Absolute Value function on your calculator, use the following steps:

Press: MATH > NUM > abs{

Figure 1

Once you hit enter on abs( , as seen in figure one, you can use the absolute value function on your calculator to solve the next two examples.

Solving Absolute Value Example 01

Example 01: Use your graphing calculator to find | -8 | = ?

Answer: | -8 | = 8

Solving Absolute Value Example 02

Example 02: Use your graphing calculator to find -| 27 | = ?

*Notice that the negative sign is outside of the absolute value bars.

Answer: - | 27 | = -27

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Absolute Value Calculator Skill 02:

How to solve basic absolute value equations and absolute value expressions on your graphing calculator.

Now that you know how to use the absolute value function on your graphing calculator ( press: MATH > NUM > abs{ ), you can use it to solve basic expressions and equations like in the following examples:

Solving Absolute Value Example 01

Example 01: Use your graphing calculator to find the value of x when x = | 3 -14 + 6 | = ?

Answer: x = 5

Solving Absolute Value Example 02

Example 02: Use your graphing calculator to find the value of x when -2 | -8(11) - 3 | = x

*Make sure you enter the -2 before you input the absolute value

Answer: x = -182

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Graphing Absolute Value Equations

Absolute Value Calculator Skill 03:

How to graph absolute value equations using a graphing calculator.

Your graphing calculator is a powerful tool for graphing absolute value equations.

(Note: you can watch a video tutorial on how to solve the following examples by clicking here—skip to minute 3:08)

To graph Absolute Value Equations on your calculator, use the following steps:

Figure 2

Once you hit enter on Y=, as seen in figure 2, you will be able to enter your absolute value equation or absolute value function. Then you just have to press graph to see the graph of your equation on the screen as in the following examples:

Graphing Absolute Value Example 01

Example 01: Use your calculator to find the graph of y = | 2x + 3 |

After you input the function into Y=, press the graph button:

The graph of y = | 2x + 3 |

Press: 2nd > GRAPH to access the function table

Graphing Absolute Value Example 02

Example 02: Use your calculator to find the graph of y = -3| x - 1 |

Remember to input the -3 before you input the absolute value portion.

The graph of y = -3 | x - 1 |

Press: 2nd > GRAPH to access the function table

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Free Absolute Value Calculator (Online Version)

If you don’t have a graphing calculator, this free online absolute value calculators are great options:

The website www.mathpapa.com offers a very useful (and free) absolute value calculator that you can use for both graphing absolute value equations AND solving absolute value equations.

This free absolute value calculator is a great tool for learning more about graphing and solving absolute value functions and checking your answers.

Observe figure 3 (solving absolute value equations) and figure 4 (graphing absolute value equations) to see examples of how the free online absolute value calculator works.

Figure 3: Screenshot from www.mathpapa.com

Figure 4: Screenshot from www.mathpapa.com

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Absolute Value Calculator Basics: Video Tutorial

Still confused? Check out the animated video lesson below:

Check out the video lesson below to learn more about multiplying fractions and for more free practice problems:

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Extra Practice: Free Absolute Value Worksheets

Free Worksheet!

Are you looking for some extra practice? Click the links below to download your free worksheets and answer key:

Solving Absolute Value Equations:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WORKSHEET

Graphing Absolute Value Equations:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WORKSHEET

Tags:  Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers, Multiplying Fractions and Whole Numbers, Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers Practice, Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers Examples, Simplifying Fractions

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Keep Learning with More Free Lesson Guides:

Have thoughts? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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By Anthony Persico

Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math. You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.

April Fools' Day Math Puzzle for Grades 1-6

They’re Here! Are Your Kids Ready for These April Fools’ Day Math Challenges?

April Fools' Day is a perfect time to add a little silliness into your lesson plans.

Whether you’re teaching your kids at home, remotely, or in the classroom, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to make your April 1st math lesson extra special and memorable.

You can start by sharing a few of these 11 Super Cute and Funny Math Jokes and Puns for Kids.

And you can keep the fun going with 3 April Fools’ Day Math Puzzles!

These kinds of activities are best used for warm-ups (anticipatory sets), cooldowns and exit tickets, and transitions. They are especially good for helping your students develop problem-solving skills, mathematical reasoning, and applying the order of operations.

I like to share fun math puzzles like today’s at least once per week to keep my lessons fresh and exciting, and my students love them!

Today’s April Fools’ Day Math Challenges for grades 1-6 are sample puzzles from the best-selling workbook: The Big Book of Super Fun Math Puzzles for Grades 1-6.

The activities are tiered by difficulty using the following system:

Pink Level (Grades 1-2) | Blue Level (Grades 3-4) | Green Level (Grades 5-6+)

April Fools’ Day Math Puzzles for Grade 1 through 6+

Note that:

(answer keys to follow)

Pink Level Puzzle (for Grades 1-2)

Extra Resources: Which One Doesn't Belong? Free Math Activities for Grades 1-8

Blue Level Puzzle (for Grades 3-4)

Free Math Resources: Free Math Coloring Worksheets for 3rd and 4th Grade

Green Level Puzzle (for Grades 5-6+)

Bonus! Would you like over 300 more math puzzles like todays?

Click here to take a closer look at our best-selling The Big Book of Math Puzzles for Students in Grades 1-6 and access more free sample puzzles with answer keys!

And click here to get your copy of The Big Book of Super Fun Math Puzzles for Grades 1-6 as a PDF download.

And here are the answers to the April Fools’ Day Math Puzzles:

Pink Level (Grades 1-2): Jester=5, Disguise=2, Monkey=8, ?=13

Blue Level (Grades 3-4): Jester=10, T-Rex=7, Monkey=5, Disguise=6, ?=84

Green Level (Grades 5-6+): T-Rex=53, Monkey=53, Jester=11, Disguise=66, ?=51

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Sharing fun math puzzles with your students is just one effective strategy for improving student engagement. Subscribe to our mailing list here to get more free daily resources, lesson plans, ideas, and insights for K-12 math teachers in your inbox every week.

Read More Posts About Math Education:

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By Anthony Persico

Anthony is the lead educator and founder of Mashup Math. He lives in Denver, Colorado and is also a YouTube for Education partner. Follow him on Twitter at @mashupmath.

Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers: Your Complete Guide

Complete Guide: Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers

Key Question: How do you multiply fractions and whole numbers?

Learn how to solve these kinds of problems.

Welcome to this free lesson guide where you will learn and easy two-step process for multiplying fractions by whole numbers AND multiplying whole numbers by fractions.

This complete guide to multiplying fractions by whole numbers includes several examples, an animated video mini-lesson, and a free worksheet and answer key.

Let’s get started!

Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers: Multiplication Review

Before we explore how to multiply fractions, let’s do a super quick review of how to multiply a fraction by a fraction (understanding how to apply the rule below will make multiplying fractions and whole numbers much easier for you!)

Multiplying Fractions Rule: Whenever multiplying fractions together, multiply the numerators together, then multiply the denominators together as follows…

Example of the Rule:

What is (3/4) x (1/2) ?

Notice that the fraction (3/8) can not be simplified (since 8 and 3 do not have a common divisor)

Answer: (3/4) x (1/2) = 1/8

Looking for More Help With Multiplying a Fraction by a Fraction? Check out this free guide

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How to Multiply a Fraction by a Whole Number (and Vice Versa)

Now that you are familiar with the rule for multiplying a fraction by a fraction, you can use it to help you easily multiply a fraction by a whole number.

Let’s start with an example:

Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers: Example 1

Example 1: What is (2/7) x 3 ?

Start by rewriting the whole number (3 in this example) as a fraction, (3/1) as follows…

(You can do this because any number divided by one is always equal to itself)

Now, because you are multiplying a fraction by a fraction, you can apply the rule and solve as follows…

And since (6/7) can not be simplified, you can conclude that:

Answer: (2/7) x 3 = (6/7)

Wait! What would happen if the answer could be simplified? Let’s address the situation in the next example…

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Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers: Example 2

Example 1: What is 5 x (9/10) ?

Start by rewriting the whole number (5 in this example) as the fraction (5/1)…

Then apply the rule as follows…

In this example, (45/10) is not the final answer because it can be simplified.

Since the greatest common factor (GCF) of 45 and 10 is 5, you can simplify by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by 5 as follows…

And since (9/2) can not be simplified any further, you can conclude that:

Answer: 5 x (9/10) = (9/2)

Still confused? Check out the animated video lesson below:

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Video: Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers Explained!

Check out the video lesson below to learn more about multiplying fractions and for more free practice problems:

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Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers Worksheets

Free Worksheet!

Are you looking for some extra practice multiplying fractions by whole numbers? Click the links below to download your free worksheets and answer key:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WORKSHEET

Tags:  Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers, Multiplying Fractions and Whole Numbers, Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers Practice, Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers Examples, Simplifying Fractions

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Keep Learning:

Have thoughts? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

(Never miss a Mashup Math blog--click here to get our weekly newsletter!)

By Anthony Persico

Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math. You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.

Multiplying Fractions: The Complete Guide

Learn to Multiply Fractions by Fractions and by Whole Numbers!

Learning how to multiply fractions, whether it be fraction times fraction or multiplying fractions by whole numbers, is an important skill that every math student must learn at some point.

This complete guide to multiplying fractions will provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to multiply fractions and includes several examples, an animated video mini-lesson, and a free worksheet and answer key.

Let’s get started!

Multiplying Fractions: Multiplication Review

Before we explore how to multiply fractions, let’s do a super quick review of basic multiplication:

Figure A

Figure C

Figure B

Figure D

What do you notice about the relationship between figures A, B, and C?

In figure D, why is 2 x (1/2) equal to 1 ?

Multiplying Fractions Rule

To help you understand Figure D above, let’s start by learning about the rules for multiplying fractions:

Rule: Whenever multiplying fractions together, multiply the numerators together, then multiply the denominators together.

The rules for multiplying fractions are as simple as that, and applying the rule to variety of different problems is just as easy. Let’s go ahead and apply this rule in a few examples.

Multiplying Fractions Examples

Example 1 (Multiplying Fractions by Fractions):

What is (3/4) x (1/2) ?

Start by applying the rule and multiplying the numerators together and then the denominators together as follows:

Notice that the fraction (3/8) can not be simplified (since 8 and 3 do not have a common divisor)

Answer: (3/4) x (1/2) = 3/8

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Example 2 (Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers):

What is 2 x (1/2) ?

This problem should look familiar because it’s from Figure D above.

Now that you understand how to use the multiplying fractions rule, you can solve this problem where you have to multiply fractions and whole numbers.

You will still use the rule to find the answer, but there is one extra step involved.

Since you are multiplying fractions by whole numbers, you will need to convert the whole number into a fraction.

In this case, you can rewrite the whole number 2 as (2/1) as follows:

Then apply the rule and solve as follows:

Answer: 2 x (1/2) = 1

Example 3 (Multiplying Fractions and Simplifying Fractions):

What is (5/6) x (3/4) ?

This will be our final example.

This time, you will have to multiply fractions and then simplify your answer.

Start by applying the rule as follows:

Wait! There’s still one more step.

15/24 can simplified because 15 and 24 are both divisible by 3 (which is the GCF of 15 and 24). So you can simplify the fraction by dividing BOTH the numerator and the denominator by 3 as follows:

And that’s all there is to it!

Answer: (5/6) x (3/4) = (5/8)

Still confused? Check out the animated video lesson below:

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Video: Multiplying Fractions Explained!

Check out the video lesson below to learn more about multiplying fractions and for more free practice problems:

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Multiplying Fractions Worksheets

Free Worksheet!

Are you looking for some extra practice multiplying fractions? Click the links below to download your free worksheets and answer key:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WORKSHEET

Tags:  Multiplying Fractions, Multiplying Fractions and Whole Numbers, Multiplying Fractions Practice, Multiplying Fractions Examples, Simplifying Fractions

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Keep Learning:

Have thoughts? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

(Never miss a Mashup Math blog--click here to get our weekly newsletter!)

By Anthony Persico

Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math. You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.

Free Guide: Multiplying Exponents Explained

Multiplying Exponents: The Complete Guide

Are you ready to master the laws of exponents and learn how to Multiply Exponents with the Same Base with ease?

This lesson is part of our Rules of Exponents Series, which also includes the following lesson guides:

• Dividing Exponents

• Working with Fractional Exponents

• Working with Negative Exponents

Let’s start with the following key question about multiplying exponents:

•  How can you multiply powers (or exponents) with the same base?

• Note that the following method for multiplying powers works when the base is either a number or a variable (the following lesson guide will show examples of both)

Multiplying Exponents Example

Let’s start with a simple example: what is 3^3 times by 3^2?

*Notice that each term has the same base, which, in this case is 3.

Start by rewriting each term in expanded form as follows (you won’t have to do this every time, but we’ll do it now to help you understand the rule, which we’ll get to later.)

Since we have 3 being multiplied by itself 5 times ( 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 ), we can say that the expanded expression is equal to 3^5

And we can conclude that: 3^3 x 3^2 = 3^5

But Why?

Do you notice a relationship between the exponents?

Multiplying Exponents Rule

Did you notice a relationship between all of the exponents in the example above?

Notice that 3^2 multiplied by 3^3 equals 3^5. Also notice that 2 + 3 = 5

This relationship applies to multiply exponents with the same base whether the base is a number or a variable:

Whenever you multiply two or more exponents with the same base, you can simplify by adding the value of the exponents:

Here are a few examples applying the multiplying exponents rule:

Multiplying Exponents Rule Example (Variable Base)

Example: Simplify (X^5)(X^7) ?

Solution: (X^5) (X^7) = X^12 …because 5 + 7 = 12

Multiplying Exponents Rule Example (Numerical Base)

Example: Simplify (8^3)(8^5) ?

Solution: (8^3) (8^5) = 8^8 …because 3 + 5 = 8

Multiplying Powers with the same base is as simple as that!

If you still need help, check out this free Multiplying Exponents video lesson:

Video: Multiplying Exponents Explained in 3 Minutes!

Multiplying Exponents Practice Worksheet and Answer Key

Are you looking for some extra multiplying exponents practice?

Click the link below to download your free Multiplying Exponents Worksheet (PDF) and Answer Key!

>>> Click here to get your free Multiplying Exponents Worksheet.

(answer key included)

Ready to Keep Learning? Here are More Free Related Math Resources:

• How to Convert a Fraction to a Decimal

• Dividing Exponents: The Complete Guide

• Negative Exponent Rule Explained in 3 Easy Steps

• Video Lesson: Scientific Notation Explained

• The Ultimate Guide to Cube Roots

• Free PDF Math Worksheets (with Answers)

• Activity: Here’s an Awesome Way to Teach Kids Fractions

Keep Learning:

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Share your ideas, questions, and comments below!

(Never miss a Mashup Math blog--click here to get our weekly newsletter!)

By Anthony Persico

Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math . You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.